6 



A 



MEMORIAL 



OF THE 



REV. BIRD WILSON, D.D., LL.D. 

LATE 

EMERITUS PROFESSOR OF SYSTEMATIC DIVINITY 

IN THE 

GENERAL THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY 

OF THE 

PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES 
OF AMERICA. 



BY 

W. WHITE BRONSON, A.M. 




J. B. LIPPINOOTT & CO. 
1864, 



" 0, Almighty God, who hast knit together thine elect, in one 
communion and fellowship, in the mystical body of Thy Son, Christ 
our Lord; grant us grace so to follow Thy blessed saints in all 
virtuous and godly living, that we may come to those unspeakable 
ioys, which Thou hast prepared for those who unfeignedly love 
Thee; through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen." 



TO THE 



ALUMNI OF THE GENERAL THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY 

OF THE 

PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH IN THE UNITED 
STATES OF AMERICA, 

AND TO 

THOSE MORE ESPECIALLY WHO HAVE BEEN THE FAVORED, 
PRIVILEGED PUPILS 

OF THE 

REY. BIRD WILSON, D.D., LL.D., 

LATE EMERITUS PROFESSOR OF SYSTEMATIC DIVINITY, 

THIS HUMBLE ATTEMPT AT A MEMORIAL OF 
OXE SO GREAT AND GOOD 

IS AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED 

BY 



ONE OF THEIR NU LIBER. 



PREFACE. 



It having been suggested to the present writer, that 
he should attempt a sketch of the life and character of 
the late Dr. Wilson, the work was undertaken under 
an oppressive sense of his own incompetency for the 
task. 

But having been the almost constant inmate of that 
good man's house during three years of Seminary 
study, and having also been blessed with the privilege 
of ministering unto him, as occasion offered, during 
the distressing illness which ended in his removal 
hence, by God; he enjoyed the rare opportunity of 
becoming familiar with the daily life of this distin- 
guished son of the Church, in a degree, perhaps, ac- 
corded to none other. 

It has been a labor of love, thus to retrace, as 
memory could suggest them, some of the steps of a 
long life of eminent greatness, and of uninterrupted 
usefulness. 

(v) 



vi 



PREFACE. 



Would, that in dismissing these pages to the Press, 
the author could be permitted to feel that he had been 
enabled to do aught in cancelling a debt of gratitude, 
which has been the accumulated product of many years 
of kind interest, and a truly fraternal regard for the 
promotion of his own highest welfare. 

Aside from the authorities quoted in the notes, the 
author has been dependent mainly upon his own recol- 
lections, and a few delicate suggestions of the beloved 
niece of Dr. Wilson, — the sole connecting link which 
now remains unbroken by the hand of death. 

Two Sermons, from the pen of Dr. Wilson, are added 
with a view of enhancing very materially the value of 
this Memorial, and also as specimens of the thorough- 
ness and completeness of his preparation for the Pulpit. 

They will be found to be clear, earnest, and instruct- 
ive; well illustrating the principle that the most con- 
sistent practice is ever based upon a definite, intelligent, 
Scriptural faith. The first in order is a masterly one, 
particularly as a model of Biblical interpretation. It 
is a style of Sermons eminently characteristic of the 
Primitive Church, and of the ablest Divines of the 
Church of England, and one far more attractive to the 
intelligent laity of the present day than is generally 
surmised. And by a gradual return to it, our people 
would be taught, what should be the great aim of all 
preaching, rightly to comprehend the word of life, but 



PREFACE. 



vii 



an end seldom attained by the fanciful flights, or com- 
monplace generalities (not to say puerilities) which 
characterize too large a share of modern sermonizing, 
and in which the elements of sober, manly, thoughtful 
study would seem to have had but little p&rt or lot. 

The clergy are ordained teachers, and although de- 
barred from none of the treasures of a chastened 
imagination, a cultivated taste, or the beauties of the 
most finished literature of any age, yet, all these are to 
be valued and employed only as subsidiary to the great 
work of building up God's people in His true faith and 
fear. 

A volume of great value to our Theological literature 
might be drawn from the manuscript Sermons of Dr. 
Wilson. At present we are necessarily restricted in 
the selection. 

Philadelphia., 1864* 



A MEMOEIAL 



OF THE 

REV. BIRD WILSON, D.D., LLD. 



The oft-repeated remark, that but little of 
thrilling interest is to be found in the lives of 
literary men, has become well-nigh stereo- 
typed. To the lovers of the new and the in- 
credulous this must needs be a sad defect, an 
almost insuperable objection; more especially 
at a period like the present, when martial 
prowess, deeds of fearful daring, and the almost 
daily acquaintance with scenes of carnage 
and blood, seem to have thrown utterly into 
the shade the virtues and amenities of a quiet, 
retired, and peaceful life; which, assuredly, in 
the sight of Heaven, are of far higher value, 

2 (9) 



10 



A MEMORIAL OE THE 



and for whose speedy return, it behooves us 
all ever to cry mightily unto God. 

There is, and ever must be in the life of the 
student, an air of sameness. His battles are 
with forces of which a bustling world knows 
and cares to know but little. His victories 
are triumphs over difficulties and doubts 
which have baffled others in the campaign for 
truth. But they are noiseless, quiet victories, 
awakening no public plaudits — the sources of 
gratulation to himself alone; or if, perchance, 
the feeling extend beyond self to others, it is 
onlv to the limited band of co-workers, who 
have watched his progress, and now rejoice in 
the complete success of his painful labors. 

Fortunately, for their own good, all are not 
of this Athenian class, caring for nothing but 
" to hear or tell of some new thing." There 
are those who seek their true and lasting 
peace in the more retired and quiet paths of 
life. With some, this is the bent of natural 
inclination, — thus has it always been with 
them; while with others, it is the result of 



REV. BIRD WILSON, D.D., LL.D. 11 



chastened feelings, and a truer appreciation 
"of things seen and temporal/' — a juster esti- 
mate of human life. 

They have been jostled by the crowd — have 
eddied hither and thither in the whirlpool of 
excitement — have grown tired of the feverish 
strife, and the constant recurrence of some 
new and absorbing object of interest — and, 
like thoughtful Mary, are now to be found 
rather at the feet of the great Master, drink- 
ing in lessons of heavenly wisdom, and mak- 
ing careful preparation for the hour when, to 
them, time, with its ten thousand distractions, 
shall be no more. And if this be so, then 
must it be evident that the latter is "the more 
excellent way;" and that sooner or later, its 
attractions shall be seen and realized : — 

" When from our better selves we have too long 
Been parted by the hurrying world, and droop, 
Sick of its business, of its pleasures tired, 
How gracious ! how benign its solitude !" 

It is the quiet, tranquil haven, whither we 
are all found tending, and which we shall 



12 



A MEMORIAL OF THE 



hail as a happy exchange for the raging bil- 
lows, and boisterous tempests of a restless 
deep. 

Such as have been described, are to be num- 
bered among the " simple men" whom good 
old Izaak Walton so characteristically de- 
scribes, — -an expression, against whose misap- 
plication he enters his ready and most heart- 
felt protest. It is not the absence of one 
single manly grace or noble endowment, as 
some would dream, but that gentle quietness, 
"that harmlessness which was usually found 
in the primitive Christians, who were quiet 
men, and followers of peace; men, that were 
so simply wise, as not to sell their consciences 
to buy riches, and with them, vexation and a 
fear to die; such simple men as lived in those 
days when there were fewer lawyers; when 
men might have a lordship conveyed to them 
in a piece of parchment no bigger than your 
hand, though several sheets will not do it 
safely in this wiser age." 

Such men have all the spirit, upon which 



REV. BIRD WILSON, D.D., LL.D. 13 

this world doats so fondly. It is the main- 
spring of their character, — giving tone, and 
energy, and completeness to all they do or may 
attempt. But, the difference consists in this, 
that the harsher features of that spirit have 
been softened, aye, and ennobled too, by the 
hallowing influences of divine grace. That 
spirit still exists, only its temper is changed; 
no longer betraying its presence to the worldly 
vision, in worldly types and manifestations. 
Human nature, in the persons of such, seems 
to have realized the beautiful vision of a firm 
and lasting peace, so inimitably described by 
the prophet, and applied, in anticipation, to 
the church of Christ, "the wolf also shall 
dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie 
down with the kid; and the calf, and the 
young lion, and the fatling together, and a 
little child shall lead them." 

In other words, the stern, rugged, and re- 
pulsive traits, which, in their coarser expres- 
sions in life, the world dignifies as spirit, man- 
liness, or heroism, are all veiled beneath an 

2* 



14 



A MEMORIAL OF THE 



overspreading, all-pervading atmosphere of 
gentle, child-like love, which, in its perfect 
development, is the highest type we have, the 
most endearing and exalted conception we 
can form of the blessed nature even of God 
Himself. 

Well must it ever be, then, to turn away 
from the tinselled specimens of human great- 
ness, which some particular age or passion has 
canonized, to those who wear more of the 
livery of every-day men, whose greatness is 
of too spiritual a character to arrest the gaze 
of the superficial and time-serving; but who 
are destined to live on in the thoughts and 
affections of men, long after the idols of to-day 
have ceased to receive the adulations of their 
favorites. 

To the class, of which Walton was so beau- 
tiful and endearing an instance, is to be added 
the venerated name of the subject of this un- 
pretending Memorial. He reflected all the 
features of the highest description of his class. 
A man of quiet tastes, — quiet habits, — quiet 



REV. BIRD WILSON, D.D., LL.D. 15 

pursuits, — of a deep, but quiet love. One, 
known fully, only by the comparative few 
who were so favored as to have been brought 
within the quiet circle in which he moved; 
and by them, known only to be revered for 
his distinguished abilities, the purity and 
saintliness of his character, for his meek and 
noiseless, but winning affection. 

Any work intended to sketch the history 
of Dr. Wilson would be incomplete, as well as 
lose much of its interest and value, without, 
at least, a passing notice of his honored father, 
who occupied so distinguished a position in 
the revolutionary era of our country; — a pe- 
riod when all the varied talent, and that too 
of the most brilliant order, seemed to have 
been consecrated to the mighty work of build- 
ing up a government which should deserve, 
which should command the respect and confi- 
dence of the entire civilized world. And now, 
when from the sadly altered condition of a 
once united and happy republic, the disposi- 
tion is shown on all hands, to go back to the 



16 



A MEMORIAL OF THE 



history of that early period, (and it is one of 
the most hopeful of signs,) narrowly scrutin- 
izing the great principles by which they were 
governed, and the motives which actuated the 
public heart, it seems to be peculiarly fitting^ 
that the names of father and son should be 
associated in an undying union. 

James Wilson was born in Scotland in the 
year 1742. His father was a highly respect- 
able farmer, and from letters still in the pos- 
session of his granddaughter, it would appear 
that the family were in very moderate circum- 
stances, plain and simple in their habits and 
tastes, but withal, possessed of that native 
refinement and strength, both of character 
and intellect, which we find so generally prev- 
alent in the eastern portion of our country, 
where the state of society presents so many 
striking points of resemblance to that of Scot- 
land. 

Doubtless, the early manifestation of de- 
cided talent, and the love of study, pointed 
his family to himself as one who should re- 



REV. BIRD WILSON, D.D., LL.D. 17 

ceive a finished education at whatever cost, 
and despite the personal sacrifices they might 
be called upon to make to that end. At all 
events, we find that he was educated at Glas- 
gow, St. Andrew's, and Edinburgh, under the 
supervision of some of the highest lights of 
Scottish literature. 

Having completed his education, he seems 
to have turned his thoughts toward America, 
as the most promising and attractive field for 
a young man, absolutely dependent upon his 
own exertions and resources, in which to be- 
gin the great battle of human life. Reaching 
Philadelphia some time during the year 1766, 
he became connected with the college in that 
city in the capacity of tutor, where he made 
for himself an enviable reputation by the ex- 
tent and accuracy of his classical attainments. 
He had recourse, doubtless, to this plan, as 
numbers since his day have done, to acquire 
the requisite means for the prosecution of the 
study of some one of the learned professions. 

His choice was that of the law, the study 



18 



A MEMORIAL OE THE 



of which he pursued in the office of the cele- 
brated John Dickenson. His first field of 
practice was at Reading, Pennsylvania, and 
subsequently at Carlisle, where his studious 
devotion to his work, and his eminent ability 
in its discharge, soon secured for him not only 
an extensive practice, but a commanding so- 
cial position also. 

Mr. Wilson had made America the country 
of his adoption. All the ties, save those of 
family, which bound him to the Old World, 
were severed. The land of his choice had 
shown her appreciation of his worth, re- 
spected his talents, and had thrown wide 
open to him the avenues to fame and afflu- 
ence. And hence, when that trying period 
came which was to end, as but few at the 
outset anticipated it would, in the utter and 
irrevocable severance of the Colonies from 
the Mother Country, he had no scruples, no 
misgivings as to the part which he was, in 
duty, required to perform in the great and 
sanguinary drama which was about to open. 



REV. BIRD WILSON, D.D., LL.D. 19 

He had sought and found a new home. 
To its defense and support all his energies, in 
all their strength and freshness, were clearly 
due. His lot had been cast with us whether 
for weal or woe. And when the moment 
came for the drawing of that line which 
should separate the friends of a nation, strug- 
gling for freedom and glory, from the advo- 
cates of a servile continuance of the reign of 
vassalage and oppression, he, discarding the 
prejudices of a foreign education, and ignoring 
the claims of his native land, gave himself 
fully and unreservedly to the work of sus- 
taining, by his counsels and example, that 
noble band who had dared to raise their 
feeble arms against one of the most powerful 
of nations. They had appealed solemnly to 
God for the rectitude of their intentions, and 
with an unshaken faith trusted to His provi- 
dence to bring them in safety through the 
conflict. 

In 1775 Mr. Wilson was elected to Con- 
gress. He was one of the original signers of 



20 



A MEMORIAL OF THE 



the Declaration of Independence, where his 
name now stands, associated with those of 
men of whom America will have reason to be 
proud so long as "she shall have a name to 
live." To these distinguished honors others 
were soon added, and all pointing to him as 
one of the most prominent of that bright 
galaxy of intellect and moral worth. 

In 1777 he sat in the convention called to 
frame the Constitution; nay, more, he was 
one of the committee of five by whom the 
American Magna Charta was actually drafted; 
and from that hour to this, the highest judi- 
cial tribunal of our land has signalized its 
deep sense of the grave importance of their 
labors, by its constant reference, upon all dis- 
puted questions of interpretation, to the re- 
corded opinions of those noble sages who had 
devoted all the might of their brilliant, culti- 
vated intellects to its original construction. 

In revelling amid the bright memories of 
those golden days of the nation's history, 
how often must the melancholy "utinam" be 



REV. BIRD WILSON, D.D., LL.D. 



21 



uttered from many an honest and patriotic 
heart, Oh! that such men were " lived over 
again !" 

In the labors of the convention above re- 
ferred to, Mr. Wilson was associated with the 
following distinguished delegation from Penn- 
sylvania, viz.: Benjamin Franklin, Thomas 
Mifflin, Robert Morris, George Clymer, Thom- 
as Fitzsimmons, Jared Ingersoll, and Gouver- 
neur Morris. 

For six out of the twelve years, between 
1775 and the call of the convention of 1787, 
Mr. Wilson was a member of Congress. In 
the History of the Constitution of the United 
States, by George Ticknor Curtis, its distin- 
guished author bears the following testimony 
to the part performed by Mr. Wilson, in re- 
ference to the adoption of the Constitution: 
"This great idea of representative govern- 
ment was, in fact, the aim of all Mr. Wil- 
son's exertions; and when the Constitution 
was formed, he enforced the idea in the Con- 
vention of Pennsylvania with singular power. 

a 



22 



A MEMORIAL OF THE 



His speech in that body is one of the most 
comprehensive and luminous commentaries 
on the Constitution that has come down to us 
from that period. It drew from Washington 
a high encomium, and it gained the vote of 
Pennsylvania for the new government against 
the ingenious and captivating objections of 
its opponents."* 

"It drew from Washington a high enco- 
mium/' says Mr. Curtis, in which he may al- 
lude to a remark of that great man which 
has descended traditionally, somewhat in this 
wise. Washington is said to have made the 
remark, suggested, in all probability, by the 
eloquent speech alluded to, "that the Conven- 
tion to frame the Constitution of the United 
States was made up of the wisest men in 
America, and that among the wisest of them 
was James Wilson." His grandchild having 
heard this anecdote from her father, repeated 
it, upon a certain occasion, to her uncle, Dr. 

* History of the Constitution of the United States, vol. i. 
p. 464. See also vol. ii. 520-522. 



REV. BIRD WILSON, D.D., LL.D. 23 



Wilson, and asked him if it was true. That 
venerable man, with his characteristic mod- 
esty, simply replied, "I believe it to be true." 
That such a complimentary remark should 
have been made, as thus reported, we can 
readily believe, more especially as we have 
Washington's elevated opinions of Mr. Wil- 
son's character and labors recorded in a letter, 
which shall be quoted presently. An addi- 
tional high mark of his confidence is to be 
found in the fact that Washington placed his 
own nephew, Bushrod, under him as his legal 
preceptor, the distinguished scholar living to 
succeed his distinguished teacher as a judge 
of the Supreme Court of the United States. 

In 1786 Mr. Wilson was elected a member 
of the Philosophical Society of Philadelphia, 
a body which has always maintained a very 
high character for the purity and learning of 
its members. The certificate of membership 
is signed, 

B. Franklin, President. 
John Ewing, 



X, 

William White, 



Vice-Presidents. 



24 



A MEMORIAL OF THE 



In the year 1789 he was appointed one of 
the associate justices of the Supreme Court 
of the United States. The commission bears 
date the 29 th of December. It is engrossed 
on parchment, signed G. Washington, and 
bears the great seal of the United States, with 
the thirteen stars clustered above the head of 
the eagle, forming the body of the sun, from 
whence rays of light emanate in all direc- 
tions. This document was accompanied by a 
letter, in the handwriting of a secretary or 
clerk, but signed G. Washington. The letter 
is well worthy of transcription for several 
reasons. It is dated, "United States, Sept. 
30th, 1789," the day after the issue of the 
commission, and is addressed "to the Honor- 
able James Wilson, Esquire." 

"Sir: — I experience peculiar pleasure in 
giving you notice of your appointment to the 
office of Associate Judge, in the Supreme 
Court of the United States. 

"Considering the judicial system as the 
chief pillar upon which our national govern- 



REV. BIRD WILSON, D.D., LL.D. 



25 



ment must rest, I have thought it my duty to 
nominate for the high offices in that depart- 
ment, such men as I conceived would give 
dignity and lustre to our national character. 
And I flatter myself that the love which you 
bear to our country, and a desire to promote 
general happiness, will lead you to a ready 
acceptance of the enclosed commission, which 
is accompanied with such laws as have passed 
relative to your office. 

"I have the honor to be, etc." 

The following sketch of Judge Wilson's 
characteristic reply is also preserved. 

"Sir : — Your commission appointing me one 
of the Associate Justices of the Supreme 
Court of the United States, and your very 
obliging letter with which it was accom- 
panied, I have had the honor of receiving. 

"Be assured, sir, that I entertain a just 
sense of the delicate and pleasing manner in 
which you describe the motives and the ob- 
jects of your choice. 

3* 



26 



A MEMORIAL OF THE 



"Permit me to add, and I hope I do it 
with justice and without vanity, that you 
are correct in your conjecture concerning the 
principles which lead me to an acceptance of 
your commission. I have taken the qualifi- 
cation prescribed by the law, and hold my- 
self in readiness to perform the duties of my 
office 

"I have the honor, etc." 

The above is addressed "to the President 
of the United States," and bears date October 
8th, 1787. 

The letter, above quoted, transmitting the 
commission, may well settle forever the point 
as to the actual standing of Judge Wilson. 
It emanates from a source, as we all know, 
whence mere idle flatteries and fashionable 
commonplace compliments were never wont 
to have their origin. 

General Washington was proverbially a 
man of but few words, and those most warily 
chosen. They were never words of mere 
compliment, which some are given to ex- 



REV. BIRD WILSON, D.D., LL.D. 



27 



change so currently, and which are soon 
learned to be rated at their true value. He 
felt most deeply the grave responsibility de- 
volved upon him in the selection of good and 
competent men to fill an office which must 
ever be regarded as the very highest of all, 
within the gift of the Chief Magistrate. 

The bare appointment, therefore, is in itself 
evidence of the eminent standing of Judge 
Wilson. But the honor, great as it was in it- 
self, is exalted fourfold when we take in con- 
nection with it the flattering terms in which 
it was pressed upon the favorite nominee. 
And aside from this, which was the primary 
object in the reproduction of the letter, it 
possesses peculiar value and an especial in- 
terest for us, when we recur to it, as we may 
and should, as a proof of what should be our 
estimate, in all coming time, of a leading 
branch of the Government, which is the most 
important of any. Washington refers to "the 
judicial system as the Chief Pillar upon which 
our national government must rest," in which 



28 



A MEMORIAL OE THE 



few, but solemn and pregnant words, are con- 
veyed at once a weighty admonition to those 
with whom may rest the responsibility of the 
appointing and confirming power, as well as 
to those who, as citizens, are called upon to 
bow with reverence to the decisions of a 
tribunal, than which we have none higher. 
To the one party it counsels grave delibera- 
tion, much caution, and an entire freedom 
from all political bias, or personal friendships 
even, in the selection, that we may have over 
us men of singular probity, of undoubted 
lore, whose hands are pure and can adjust 
the trembling scales with an impartial accu- 
racy. To the other, to the party of the sec- 
ond part, to us, as citizens, bound to obey 
and to uphold the law, it counsels reverence 
for its august decisions, and a peaceful acquies- 
cence in all its requirements. Be our private 
views or predilections what they may, all 
must be surrendered, utterly abandoned, when 
once our line of duty shall have been clearly 
marked out for us by an authority which has 



REV. BIRD WILSON, D.D., LL.D. 29 

no earthly superior, with which alone it rests 
to determine what is law, and what our 
bounden duty under it. It is a dangerous 
experiment indeed, which would make light 
of such a department of our Government, 
which would do aught to undermine the deep 
reverence we have been educated from early 
childhood to cherish for all its solemn deci- 
sions. When such a court, entrusted with 
such vital interests, both personal and nation- 
al, shall have become corrupt, incompetent, 
or poisoned by party affiliations, or, whenever 
the body of our people shall have ceased to 
yield a reverent, cheerful submission to its 
wise determinations, we will have reached 
an appalling crisis in our national history, 
and may ruefully anticipate the day when 
it shall have become established, beyond all 
peradventure, that the theory of popular 
government has proved at best but a cruel 
fallacy. 

The venerable Henry Clay, upon the floor 
of the Senate, on one occasion, pronounced 



30 



A MEMORIAL OF THE 



the Supreme Court to be one of the few great 
conservative elements of our Government. 

Let us, then, guard well against the ap- 
proach of aught which may tend in any way 
or to any degree, either to vitiate or to destroy 
that conservative character. But a greater 
even than he, the immortal Washington, in 
words of most singular, not to say prophetic, 
significance, speaks of that venerable body 
not as a pillar only, but as 66 the Chief Pillar 
on which our national government must rest." 
Let us beware, then, of the destruction, of the 
undermining, of the weakening even, of that 
mighty prop; lest the whole beautiful fabric 
shall crumble in ruins about us, and we be- 
come a by-word, and a reproach among the 
nations of the earth. 

There were other positions still, occupied 
by Judge Wilson, which attested the general 
appreciation of his worth as a man of unques- 
tionable ability, tried integrity, and great 
executive talent. 

In 1782, or thereabouts, he had been ap- 



REV. BIRD WILSON, D.D., LL.D. 31 

pointed by the President and Supreme Exec- 
utive Council, a counsellor and agent for 
Pennsylvania, in the controversy between 
that State and the State of Connecticut, re- 
lating to certain lands within the charter 
boundaries of Pennsylvania, but claimed by 
Connecticut. The decision was in favor of 
Pennsylvania. He had also a commission 
from Louis XVI., still preserved among his 
papers, as Advocate General for the French 
government, in the United States; u an office, 
the duties of which were both arduous and 
delicate." 

It can be readily understood from the con- 
spicuous positions occupied by him, that J udge 
Wilson's associations with the leading great 
men of America must have been both frequent 
and intimate. This is abundantly evident 
from the fragments of correspondence still 
preserved. There are letters from such men 
as Gen. Washington, John Adams, Alexander 
Hamilton, Patrick Henry, Paul Jones, Gen. 
St. Clair, who wrote him a very interesting 



32 



A MEMORIAL OF THE 



description of the capitulation at Yorktown; 
from Bishop White, and others. This list em- 
braces persons only whose names, very natu- 
rally, made an impression while hurriedly 
glancing over his papers, — a list which might 
be very materially extended, were it neces- 
sary. 

With Mr. (subsequently the venerated 
Bishop) White, his relations from early man- 
hood on through life, were of the most inti- 
mate, affectionate, and confidential character. 
It looks oddly enough to us of this generation, 
to see that hoary prelate addressed familiarly 
as " Dear Billy." We can scarcely bring our- 
selves to realize that he could ever have been 
otherwise than as we have seen him in the 
discharge of his holy functions, and at whose 
approach, "all rejoiced to do him reverence." 
And, were it not intrenching upon the deli- 
cacy and reserve which attach to the confiden- 
tial letters of two young men, who were accus- 
tomed, without the shadow of restraint, to 
unbosom to each other their every feeling, 



REV. BIRD WILSON, D.D., LL.D. 33 

care, or anxiety; it were easy to draw from 
their correspondence, matter which would af- 
ford the fund for no little amusement. 

There is a passage in one of the letters re- 
ferred to, which I shall take the liberty of 
quoting from, for its vivid description of one 
of the masters of his profession — to whom, 
Bishop White was often heard to allude in his 
later years, as possessed of oratorical powers 
never since equalled. It is his description of 
the celebrated David Garrick. The letter is 
written from London, under date of Feb. 14th, 
1772. "The greatest phenomenon I have 
seen in England," says he, "is Mr. Garrick. 
I thought it impossible for human powers to 
reach so far. The other day I saw him in 
Hamlet, which is one of his best characters. 
If a painter could draw him, following his 
father's ghost off the stage, it would make the 
best picture I ever saw; but I think it impos- 
sible to represent his attitude, and the pas- 
sions of his countenance exactly. No doubt 
you have often admired a passage in this play, 

4 



84 



A MEMORIAL OF THE 



(Act II., scene 6th,) which begins thus: 'I 
have of late, wherefore I know not, lost all 
my mirth,' etc. etc. Now, figure to yourself 
the most graceful man you ever saw, with a 
better pronunciation than you ever heard, 
repeating that passage, and still your idea 
will be defective; for you cannot help think- 
ing of him as an actor; but in Garrick, there 
is nothing like an actor, except that he stands 
upon a stage. The closet interview with 
his mother was the most admired. Every 
spectator must have felt the horrors which 
Shakspeare intended to excite by it." 

In now drawing this sketch to a close, one 
event remains to be noticed. It is Judge 
Wilson s comparatively early, and speaking 
from an earthly stand-point, we might be 
tempted to say, his premature decease, at the 
age of 56 years. This event occurred while 
on his circuit in North Carolina, and in the 
discharge of his official functions. He closed 
his life on earth, at Eden ton, on the 28 th day 
of August, 1798. 



REV. BIRD WILSON, D.D., LL.D. 35 

"As a lawyer and judge, Mr. Wilson was 
eminent for talent and integrity. In private 
life he was courteous, kind, and hospitable. 
His political and legal disquisitions are extant 
in three volumes, and much esteemed."* 

Pennsylvania had reason to be proud of 
her adopted son; and throughout our land, so 
long as that spirit is cherished which gave 
birth to a nation designed by God, as we 
humbly trust, to fulfil a great, noble, and 
glorious mission, shall his name be held in 
grateful and undying remembrance. 

The history of the period on which we have 
thus dwelt, is read amiss by such as seek to 
draw therefrom the materials only for vapid, 
wordy, noisy declamation. 

Nor is it used to much better purpose by 
those whose only aim shall be to gratify the 
pride of family, and where, it may be, there 
can be no other claim than that of bare de- 
scent from men, whose sterling virtues they 



* Encyclopedia Americana, vol. xiii. pp. 199, 200. 



36 



A MEMORIAL OF THE 



have ceased long since to emulate. Far, very 
far from it. 

Our country has her shield of honor, upon 
whose golden plates are inscribed those im- 
perishable names which are bound up with 
the nation s history, and unexampled pros- 
perity, at least, up to the sad and most mys- 
terious period in which our lot is cast. And 
before these, who, out of pure love for her, 
would put forth the helping hand, as instru- 
ments, under God, in bringing her back again 
to her first glory, we hold up that shield with 
all its sacred memories of those immortalized 
thereby, in the hope, and with the prayer, 
that with the enkindling anew of the same 
devoted and unselfish spirit which burned in 
their breasts, we may trace the first, faint 
dawnings of a brighter day, — a day whose 
glorious sun shall never go down until the 
nation's work be done, and she be ready to 
account in heaven for the untold blessings of 
which she has been made the favored, but, 
tod often, the ungrateful recipient. 



REV. BIRD WILSON, D.D., LL.D. 37 

The preceding sketch of one of the great 
lights of our national history has been at- 
tempted only as a most fitting introduction to 
the more extended notice of his son, for the 
delineation of whose character this work has 
been mainly undertaken. 

We are compelled to regret, at the outset, 
the scarcity of the materials left on which to 
draw, and are very sensibly reminded, as was 
hinted in the first few pages of this volume, 
that in so quiet, uniform a life, whose even 
tenor was scarce ever disturbed, there must 
of necessity be but few salient points of com- 
manding public interest. 

It is one of the cases in which the inborn 
tastes of a man, and the state of life to which 
God had called him, seem to have run in con- 
centric circles, to have corresponded in every 
particular, so much so, that it would be a dif- 
ficult problem, indeed, to settle how far his 
quiet, gentle impulses may have determined 
the choice of his position, as well as have 
given tone and hue to his public life in carry- 

4* 



38 



A MEMORIAL OF THE 



ing out the objects of his choice; as, on the 
contrary, how far the unvarying sameness of 
the duties of his position was reflected back, 
strengthening and confirming what appeared 
to be a constituent element of his nature. 

But, taking the bent of that nature, and 
the positions, which in God's providence he 
actually occupied, into consideration, he was 
pre-eminently "the right man in the right 
place." And here another remark suggests 
itself well deserving of our notice. 

I refer to a disposition, far too general, 
because a proof of great ignorance or weak- 
ness, or both combined, — the disposition to 
underrate, to pass by as of no account, the 
faithful and untiring labors of men whose 
path runs side by side with none of the noisy 
avenues of trade or politics, where "men 
most do congregate," paths utterly untrodden 
by, and almost unknown to, the stirring, rest- 
less multitudes to whom society at large is 
mainly indebted for its prevailing tastes, fash- 
ions, and opinions. All beyond their own ex- 



REV. BIRD WILSON, D.D., LL.D. 



39 



cited circle, are the heavy plodders of this 
world, whose life is regarded as a sort of in- 
tellectual treadmill. Such men, they argue, 
could never fill a position carrying with it an 
extended popular influence, and hence it is 
regarded as a most fortunate circumstance 
indeed for them, that in the orderings of this 
world, some quiet nooks are left into which 
these may creep, and there drag out a not 
inglorious, but, at the best, a but second-rate 
existence. 

Of the solid, varied talents and attainments 
of such, of their quiet usefulness in training 
others, it may be, for the great work of life, 
no account is taken; and they are known, ap- 
preciated, and honored only by the few who 
have ceased to be amused, like children, with 
the tinsel and glitter of a world too often oc- 
cupied in chasing mere empty phantoms. 

No one capable of forming an intelligent 
estimate of the talents, of the knowledge, 
and of the honorable and distinguished posi- 
tions occupied by Dr. Wilson, could, for one 



40 



A MEMORIAL OF THE 



single moment, conjecture that he was an 
illustration of the class just described. The 
only possible point of resemblance between 
the two, would be the quietness of the spheres 
in which he was called to labor. But there 
is a growing disposition thus to ignore the 
claims of an unpretending, self-retiring class, 
against which it becomes all reflecting persons 
to enter their earnest, solemn protest, because 
the fruitful source of deep injustice to those 
whose true position in life must sooner or 
later be felt and acknowledged. 

It has been well said by one who was the 
companion in labor of Dr. Wilson for nearly 
thirty years, and himself one of the ripest 
scholars of our land and age,* "that the son 
inherited his father's talents, and in due time 
made himself equally conspicuous." 

Let us then address ourselves to the task 
of noting some of the scattered waymarks 
which have been set up along the journey of 



* The Rev. Dr. Turner's Sermon, Commemorative of Dr. 
Wilson. 



REV. BIRD WILSON, D.D.. LL.D. 41 

a great and good man; resting v assured, that 
if we can find but little of wild romance on 
the way, we shall find, most unquestionably, 
what is far better, viz.: hints and lessons for 
the conduct of our own lives, which, if duly 
heeded and improved, shall entitle us also to 
rank among those who have glorified God, 
by doing good in their generation, for whom 
is reserved the animating welcome, "Servant 
of God! well done!" 

Bird Wilson was born at Carlisle, Pennsyl- 
vania, on the 8th of January, 1777. Of the 
incidents of his childhood and early youth 
but few traces now remain, and yet, though 
few, they are of such a nature as give the 
clue to his character, from his tenderer years 
onward through life. These incidents are 
derived chiefly from the recollections of a 
domestic of the family, of reliable character, 
but one whose prejudices were very decidedly 
in favor of the brother, a person who was of a 
far more ardent and lively temperament. 

From her statement it would appear that 



42 



A MEMORIAL OF THE 



the same quiet, in-door sort of character 
which marked his riper years, was character- 
istic of his childhood also. While his com- 
panions were abroad, indulging in the ruder 
sports of boyhood on the open common, he 
sought his own pleasure rather within the 
home circle, and in the immediate society of 
his parents. 

One other fact is to be noticed in this con- 
nection, which betrays not only the same 
gentleness and quietness of spirit, but also a 
degree of precocious manliness and reliability 
of character but seldom found in one so young. 
It is this. That to him alone was accorded 
the privilege of having his books and play- 
things in his father's office, as also of being 
the constant companion of his father, even 
when called upon in consultation upon mat- 
ters either of public or private business, the 
details of which were strictly confidential. 
And even after he had reached an age when 
communications of such a nature could not 
possibly have been made without his being a 



REV. BIRD WILSON, D.D., LL.D. 43 

party to the knowledge of them, at least; 
yet, no objection was ever made to his pres- 
ence, as of one who might either ignorantly, 
heedlessly, or wilfully divulge what was 
never intended to be repeated in the public 
ear. A very marked proof, indeed, of a sta- 
bility and ripeness of character, often looked 
for in vain among those whose long and inti- 
mate associations with the world should have 
taught a cautious silence, a prudent reserve. 

He graduated from the College (now the 
University) of Pennsylvania, in 1792, at the 
very early age of fifteen years. He at once 
applied himself to the study of the law, and 
was admitted to practice at the bar, at Phila- 
delphia, his certificate bearing date March 
13th, 1797, just after entering upon his 
twenty-first year, that being the youngest 
limit allowed by the law. 

He was soon assigned a position of trust 
and responsibility in the office of the Com- 
missioner of Bankrupt Law, and at the age 
of twenty-five years he was appointed the 



44 



A MEMORIAL OF THE 



President Judge of the Court of Common 
Pleas, in what was then known as the seventh 
circuit, comprising the counties of Chester, 
Delaware, Montgomery, and Bucks, if not 
others. At the period of his elevation to the 
bench, it was the first known instance of the 
appointment of so young a man. Putting 
the above dates together, it would appear 
that he could not have practiced at the 
bar for more than four short years. 

Any person familiar with him in his later 
years, would readily infer, without any cotem- 
porary evidence, that he must have been a 
lawyer, in contradistinction to the mere advo- 
cate, — a very marked, just, useful, and flat- 
tering distinction. As a science, he had made 
himself master of the law; — was entirely 
familiar with all its great, leading principles; 
and he was distinguished, chiefly, for the 
clearness and soundness with which he ap- 
plied those principles to the cases which might 
be brought before him, and by which eternal 
principles of truth and equity they should be 
decided. 



REV. BIRD WILSON, D.D., LL.D. 45 

But we could never fancy in him the popu- 
lar advocate, of great power only in swaying 
the judgments of a jury, carrying them with 
him away from the great landmarks of the 
case by popular harangues, addressed to the 
passions rather than to the understanding; 
and thus succeeding, in what to some is a most 
marvellous achievement indeed, in " making 
the worse appear the better reason." 

For such misuses of what is called forensic 
ability, he was utterly unfitted by the cool, 
deliberate, positive, and demonstrative char- 
acter of his mind,— to say nothing of his 
manly aversion to aught which might savor 
of low truckling; or of the conscientious 
views of duty both to God and man, which 
were his great, animating principles through 
life. 

He had not a single element of the popu- 
lar orator, in the modern, but often most 
erroneous appropriation of that word. What 
might prove merely ornamental or attractive, 
or capable of fanciful interpretation, made no 



46 



A MEMORIAL OF THE 



impression upon his mind. Nor would he 
consent to abuse the understandings of others, 
by tendering to them what his own mind re- 
jected as weak, puerile, or unworthy. He 
looked rather to the solid groundwork, to the 
legal merits of his case; convinced, that if 
lacking these essential elements to success, 
the case was unworthy of his prosecution. 
And, doubtless, in the estimation of many a 
jury, he has been stripped of all his laurels 
by some superficial tyro of the law, while by 
the judge, who has long since learned to hold 
in utter contempt the mere senseless tricks of 
rhetoric, so called, he has been listened to 
with interest and attention, which is the 
highest tribute to professional completeness 
which possibly could be offered.* 

Knowing nothing of the actual character 
of his practice, nor yet of the persons by whom 



* Since the above was written I have been led to suppose 
that he had never argued a case before a jury. The opinion 
as to what he would have done in such a case, remains the 
same. 



REV. BIRD WILSON, D.D., LL.D. 47 

he was employed, I should hazard but little 
in the assertion, that it was that kind of 
practice in which deep and accurate legal lore 
was the grand prerequisite; and that his cli- 
ents were persons w^ho knew how to discrimi- 
nate between the solid and the mere superfi- 
cial in human acquirements. And, as a 
striking proof of his peculiar and complete 
fitness for the bench, one fact alone need be 
mentioned. It is this. That throughout his 
entire judicial career, but one decision ever 
made by him was reversed by a court having 
appellate jurisdiction. And even in that case, 
the reversal was owing to the after-production 
of a document which Judge Wilson had never 
seen; — a document which so changed the 
whole character of the case, as virtually to 
render it a different one from that which he 
had adjudicated; so that in point of fact, 
there was really no reversal whatever. 

We now reach an event which, in an indi- 
rect way, had the effect of changing the whole 
current of Judge Wilson's after-life. I can 



48 



A MEMORIAL OF THE 



but imperfectly recall the circumstances as 
they were once casually told me, — but at a 
time when it never occurred to me that they 
might possess peculiar interest in unfolding 
the history of Dr. Wilson. 

A murder had been committed in Delaware 
County, near the site of the present beautiful 
and flourishing town of Media. The young 
man implicated in the charge was of highly 
respectable family connections. The circum- 
stances of the murder were as aggravated as 
they were susceptible of full and complete 
proof, leaving no room to doubt the guilt of 
the defendant. 

The case came up for trial before Judge 
Wilson; and in the course of its prosecution 
some painful, harrowing family scenes were 
witnessed, almost convulsing even the agonized 
spectators; and, as a matter of course, making 
a deep impression upon the Judge, whose na- 
tive, refined, and delicate kindness of heart, 
no one who had ever known him could pos- 
sibly mistake. 



REV. BIRD WILSON, D.D., LL.D. 



49 



The trial ended with the verdict of wilful 
murder, and at the proper time the Judge per- 
formed the sad, necessary, but painful duty 
which the law imposed, by sentencing the 
youth to the fearful, ignominious death of a 
capital offender.* 

At the close of this term of the court Judge 
Wilson resigned, probably in the year 1817 
or 1818. 



* Since the above was prepared I find there are one or two 
inaccuracies in the statement, but not affecting the main 
object for which the matter was alluded to, viz., as showing 
the amount of pain and mental distress which the entire 
transaction had caused the judge. The accused was ar- 
raigned before him Oct. 20th, 1817, and the case so far heard 
as to result in his commitment for trial. It was then ad- 
journed from time to time. On the 19th of Jan., 1818, the 
case is again referred to, but the associate judges are only- 
mentioned as present. The note on- the record is, "No Pre- 
siding Judge." In all probability Judge Wilson had at this 
time resigned, and his successor, Judge Ross, had not yet 
received his appointment. April 13th, 1818, Judge Ross is 
mentioned as presiding. April 14th, the accused received 
his sentence. The above memoranda are taken from "the 
docket," as furnished by the Hon. E. Darlington, a venerable 
and highly distinguished member of the bar of Delaware 
County. It is understood that Judge Wilson had once pro- 
nounced the sentence of death, but then determined he would 
not do so a second time. 

5* 



50 



A MEMORIAL OF THE 



He devoted himself thenceforth to his prep- 
aration for the Christian ministry, to which 
he was admitted by Bishop White, (under 
whom he had prosecuted his studies,) as a 
Deacon in Christ Church, Philadelphia, on the 
12th of March, 1819; and as a Priest, about 
a year subsequently. 

From the long known, deeply religious 
character of Dr. Wilson, and the zeal he had 
evinced as a layman in the affairs of the 
Church, I have never been disposed to regard 
the painful incident above referred to, as the 
great or procuring cause of the change of 
sphere which so soon thereafter resulted. We 
know not how long the hand of God had been 
drawing him onward to His own more immedi- 
ate work, nor yet how long the subject of those 
heavenly influences had heard and recognized 
the whispering accents of a divine Spirit, 
pointing to a higher, nobler path, and coun- 
selling to his docile heart, " this is the way, 
walk thou in it." 

I have ever been disposed to believe, yet 



REV. BIRD WILSON, D.D., LL.D. 51 

without any definite authority for saying so, 
that the question of the sacred ministry was 
no new one with him, — that his thoughts, 
aye, and his affections also, had long been 
turned in that direction, and that the only 
effect of this painful trial was, to bring him 
at once to the settled decision of what had 
long been an open question. 

But that the trial referred to had made an 
impression upon his mind which no lapse of 
time or change of circumstances could possi- 
bly weaken, much less efface, became pain- 
fully evident to his friends from a very try- 
ing scene. During the sad and fatal illness 
of Dr. Wilson, which lasted, with many al- 
ternations and varieties of intensity, for 
nearly three years,* his mind, at times, was 
very seriously affected, he having ceased to 
have any control over it. Upon the occa- 
sion alluded to, his mind evidently reverted 
strongly to the days of his legal practice, at 



* His malady was softening of the brain. 



52 



A MEMORIAL OF THE 



one moment making some casual suggestion 
to the counsel, at another formally address- 
ing a jury. It was the solemn, quiet hour of 
night. Two only were present at his bedside, 
the one, his devoted, sorrowing niece; the 
other, the writer of this memorial. 

As we narrowly watched every changing 
expression of his countenance, and listened, 
in breathless silence, to catch whatever might 
escape his lips, he turned his straining eyes 
heavenward, and the most indescribable ex- 
pression of intense, fearful agony settled 
darkly upon his features. Then clasping his 
forehead violently with both hands, he ex- 
claimed, in tones of the deepest bitterness, 
"He was launched into eternity unprepared; 
but, oh, God! impute it not to me!" 

The whole scene has made an indelible im- 
pression upon the two who witnessed it, and 
who were at no loss in realizing that he had 
gone back, in imagination, to what had been, 
in all probability, the closing scene in his 
judicial career, The emotions which then 



REV. BIRD WILSON, D.D., LL.D. 



53 



agitated his soul as he looked down upon the 
poor, doomed culprit, again wrung his heart 
with an agony, only embittered by the fear- 
ful reflection that he had been hurried into 
the presence of his God "before his sins had 
been done away by His mercy, or his pardon 
sealed in heaven/' 

What a picture of the loveliness of a tender, 
sympathetic heart, rendered softer and still 
lovelier by the gentle dews of heavenly 
grace ! 

Perfectly unmanned by a scene so harrow- 
ing to us, and knowing not which way to 
turn, I can only remember having clasped 
his trembling hands, entreating him to forget 
what had transpired so long ago, — "All this, 
doctor," said I, "occurred years ago, while 
you were a judge, but remember, now you 
are a clergyman." 

Turning upon me with the quickness of 
thought, and apparently irritated by the 
utter absurdity of my suggestion, he ex- 
claimed, "What of all that? Do you sup- 



54 



A MEMORIAL OF THE 



pose that I am not to answer for what I did 
as a judge?" 

Unhinged as was that mighty intellect, 
how quickly could it perceive the great bear- 
ings of duty and accountability! Such con- 
siderations had been too long the guiding 
stars of a life, now well advanced, to be ut- 
terly eclipsed, even by a disordered, shattered 
brain. 

Were it not that this incident throws a flood 
of light upon traits of character, the bare 
existence of which some might be disposed to 
question, I should feel that an apology was 
due for so far lifting the veil from that mys- 
terious sickness, the harbinger of an end so 
unlike what any w r ould have anticipated ; so 
very different from what any friend would 
have chosen for him, had it pertained to us 
to order the time or manner of his departure 
hence. And how, after meditating upon such 
a scene, must the prayer of Laud, Archbishop 
and Martyr, come back to us w r ith thrilling 
interest, as something which may concern us, 



REV. BIRD WILSON, D.D., LL.D. 



55 



we know not how soon or how deeply! "Oh ! 
let me not be snatched away unprepared, 
nor surprised in any act of sin, nor called 
upon when my lamp is untrimmed. Let my 
death (if it be Thy blessed will) be neither 
violent nor untimely, but after the ordinary 
visitation of men. Preserve my reason and 
religion, my faith and hope, my sense and 
speech, perfect and useful to the last of my days, 
and grant that I may. die the death of the 
righteous, and that my future state may be 
like his." Yes, we would all implore at the 
hands of God a space to review our condition 
and our hopes, an interval in life's fevered 
dream, for calm, Christian meditation. A 
brief season, at least, for putting our houses 
in order, that when the summons shall come, 
we may not be found sleeping, or unprepared 
to obey its mandates. It is the wish, nay, 
the hope also, of the worldling, the trifling, 
and the sinner, who madly put off all thought 
of the soul, hoping that in death, when not 
forever too late, he may be indulged a brief 



56 



A MEMORIAL OF THE 



interval in which to cry for mercy. It is a 
feeling, an instinctive prompting of our na- 
tures which cannot find a more appropriate 
vehicle for its expression than is afforded us 
in the simple language of the Psalmist, to 
which we have so often listened, in our sub- 
lime and unequalled office for the burial of the 
dead,— "0, spare me a little that I may re- 
cover my strength, before I go hence and be 
no more seen !" 

The scene to which I have alluded has its 
uses, as just hinted, and they are very im- 
portant uses in estimating aright the charac- 
ter of Dr. Wilson. A mere casual interview, 
or a certain degree of intimacy even, might 
beget the impression (no doubt this has been 
the case in some instances) that he was a 
man cold in his feelings, though always cour- 
teous to, and respectful of, those with whom 
he came in contact. But an impression fur- 
ther removed from the truth could not easily 
be imagined. He had his peculiarities, in- 
deed; and a very marked one was this, — that 



REV. BIRD WILSON, D.D., LL.D. 



57 



he very seldom, if indeed ever, was heard to 
name, or even allude to, any person whom he 
had deeply loved in life, after his or her re- 
moval hence. The hand of death seemed to 
have sealed his lips with theirs. 

In proof of this take the following tender 
incident, as related by his niece. His favorite 
sister, named Emily, was removed hence very 
suddenly, and on one occasion, previous to her 
burial, after being missed by his family, he 
was found lying upon the bed beside the body 
of that sister; and yet he was never heard 
to allude to her afterward save once, and then 
while his mind was in a wandering, unset- 
tled state. And was this a proof of thought- 
lessness of, an indication of indifference to, 
the departed? Was it a cold, deliberate, 
and systematic attempt to banish their very 
images from the tablet of memory? Thus, 
some will be found to argue, but how un- 
reasonably, how unjustly! The very sacred- 
ness of the tie, now made more deeply sacred, 
which still bound them together, was the sole 

6 



58 



A MEMORIAL OF THE 



cause of that delicate, impressive, eloquent 
silence. The very expression of his counte- 
nance, when such were alluded to, betrayed 
something of what was going on in the hidden 
depths of his own soul; counselling to others 
a sacred reserve, if only out of regard to 
feelings so tender, so poignant. It was like 
venturing unbidden upon ground which he 
had fenced around as holy, within which, 
who could rudely force his way? And what 
is true of this class of feelings with him, 
may be predicated of every other class. 

They were not mere surface feelings, in- 
tended for parade, for public exhibition ; but 
they were deep, sacred^ and abiding principles 
of his nature, schooled, disciplined, and re- 
strained by reason, and by that delicate sense 
of propriety which inclines all rightly con- 
stituted natures to have and retain within 
them one holy place into which the rude gaze 
of a heartless world cannot penetrate, — a 
spot " with which the stranger intermeddieth 
not." 



REV. BIRD WILSON, D.D., LL.D. 59 

His was not an extatic nature, upon which, 
for the moment, the merest trifle will produce 
an effect or bring on a flood of emotions, 
which in more truly and nicely balanced 
natures it would require some powerful cause 
to develop. In every emergency, under every 
announcement, whether joyous or the reverse, 
he maintained his perfect self-possession, and 
was thus the better prepared to act as the 
exigency of the case might seem to demand. 
It was not heartlessness; far, very far from 
it. It was self-control, self-command, quali- 
ties which too many read amiss, as only syn- 
onymous with selfishness, and the utter ab- 
sence of every hearty, genial impulse. Would 
that all who have ever settled down upon any 
such erroneous conclusion could have wit- 
nessed the tithe even of what others have : 
they would then have found their cherished 
theories of character all at fault, and that 
their fancied penetration had fallen short in 
detecting precious gems which they dreamed 
not could possibly exist, only because hidden 



60 



A MEMORIAL OF THE 



in a mine which it was- not given them to ex- 
plore. Let such, if any there are, study the 
bedside scene just described, and there learn 
a lesson from the book of human character, 
truer far than all the suggestions of any hasty, 
immature judgment. 

We left the personal history of Dr. Wilson 
at the date of his ordination to the ranks of 
the sacred ministry. He had then attained 
his 40th year. 

On the 3d of May, 1820, Bishop White an- 
nounced, in his address to the Annual Con- 
vention of the Diocese of Pennsylvania, the 
decease of the Rev. Thos. P. May, Rector of 
St. John's Church, Norristown, and of St. 
Thomas's Church, Whitemarsh. After speak- 
ing in terms of deserved encomium of his de- 
ceased Presbyter, he adds, as an alleviation 
to the loss which these parishes had sustained, 
"that there was one residing within their 
bounds, the Rev. Bird Wilson, recently or- 
dained, but long known among them for his 
able and faithful discharge of the duties of 



KEV. BIRD WILSON, D.D., LL.D. 61 

a highly responsible office in the Judiciary 
department, and who, without delay, was 
chosen, and settled as their Pastor." 

This was the first and only Rectorship held 
by Dr. Wilson throughout his entire clerical 
life; — a Rectorship, moreover, which lasted 
but about two years. 

As nothing appears of very especial interest 
connected with this brief Pastorate, we may 
naturally infer that his clerical life there was 
not unlike that of the incumbents of similar 
semi-rural Parishes. But in connection with 
Norristown, one circumstance deserves men- 
tion. This had been his Judicial residence, 
and it was there that he was chiefly in- 
strumental in organizing a Parish, and in the 
erection of a church edifice, still standing. 
He had been a warden of the same Parish for 
several years, as well as a delegate from it in 
the annual conventions of the Diocese. For 
his activity, generous support of the church, 
and general usefulness as a layman, none had 
a higher estimate of him than the late Rev. 

6* 



62 



A MEMORIAL OF THE 



J. C. Clay, D.D., whom God has taken to him- 
self, full of years, and after a life of devoted 
usefulness. 

From what has been said of Dr. Wilson as 
a lawyer, no one can be at a loss for his true 
position as a preacher of the Gospel in the 
church of God. Besides, many who have sat 
at his feet as pupils, have also been privileged 
at times to listen to his enforcement of the 
divine word. 

He was not what is known as a popular 
preacher. He had none of the so-called graces 
of oratory. His voice, never strong, made it 
often necessary that the fixed and undivided 
attention of his hearers should be given. His 
manner was quiet, dignified, and impressive. 
It was just such a manner as accorded with 
his style of writing; just such a manner as 
might be expected of one who felt deeply the 
responsibility of his position, and the nature 
of the solemn charge, with the delivery of 
which he had been entrusted by God. I can 
now readily recall one of his sermons. It was 



REV. BIRD WILSON, D.D., LL.D. 63 

on the text, "Now we are ambassadors for 
God; as though God did beseech you by us, 
we pray you, in Christ's stead, be ye recon- 
ciled unto God." The manner of delivery was 
pre-eminently what I have endeavored to de- 
scribe. It seemed as though the very nature 
of the subject had impressed him the more 
strongly with a deep sense of the dignity of 
the office, as acting for God; and of its tre- 
mendous responsibility, because devoted to 
the solemn work of reconciling sinners unto 
God. 

He felt the subject deeply, as was evident 
from the difficulty with which he seemed to 
repress his emotions; and the quiet earnest- 
ness in which his feeling showed itself, could 
not fail to make each one present realize his 
own deep and intimate concern in the weighty 
message. 

To those who looked for the outward trap- 
pings of mere rhetorical display, he could not 
prove to be otherwise than dull and unat- 
tractive. But, to the cultivated, thoughtful, 



64 



A MEMORIAL OF THE 



and serious, how different the aspect ! Purity 
of character unassailed, and unquestioned 
even; a depth of learning, which, while it was 
never obtruded for the mere sake of the rep- 
utation of learning, yet gave solidity, finish, 
and a grace to whatever fell from his pen; — 
these added to a manner which bespoke the 
deep sincerity of every utterance, to the end 
that his hearers, alike convinced, should ap- 
ply to their own hearts and lives the heavenly 
lessons inculcated; — these are features of a 
herald of divine truth, never recognized but 
with one result. The thoughtful went away 
with the conviction that they had been sup- 
plied with new and rich material for thought 
in future; and all, intent upon eternal life, 
that they had been furnished with new and 
more powerful incentives to run more dili- 
gently hereafter, "the race set before them." 

Were I driven, in the description of his 
style of writing, to the use of a single expres- 
sion, none would more naturally suggest itself 
than this, — that it was perfectly exhaustive. 



REV. BIRD WILSON, D.D., LL.D. 65 

The subject was presented in all its fulness, 
and, so far as it went, leaving nothing to be 
added. This was the result, in part, of the very 
character of his mind; but in a good degree 
attributable also to the very peculiar effect of 
a long study of the Law, and the constant 
discussion and application of its principles as 
a J udge ; the tendency of which is, to give a 
breadth and depth of thought, and that quick 
and peculiar nicety of discrimination in the 
application of principles which is fostered 
by no other branch of study to the same ex- 
tent. His was the style of the Sherlocks, of 
Waterland, Hooker, Beveridge, Home, Bull, 
Horsley, Pearson, Seeker, Faber, Yenn, and 
others, — all of them distinguished lights of 
the Church; — all the favorite authors of his 
study: a class of divines from whom we de- 
rive the very marrow of our Theology, ex- 
pressed in language which has made them 
the undisputed standards, not only of purity 
of doctrine, but of finished composition also. 
Such is the class with whom the name of Dr. 



66 



A MEMORIAL OF THE 



Wilson will ever be associated by the Chris- 
tian student — the witness of his standing as 
a divine in point of tone of doctrine, as well 
as of his completeness in scholarship. It is a 
niche in the temple of God, which the most 
aspiring might be proud to fill. 

Though restricted in his ministerial labors 
to the comparatively limited circle of two 
small, but highly respectable Parishes, the 
reputation he had already acquired could 
not thus be straightened. He was not only 
known, but favorably known far beyond any 
such narrow circle. 

The General Theological Seminary, then in 
its infancy, had been established at New Ha- 
ven, Connecticut; and at a meeting of the 
Trustees, held on the 24th of July, 1821, Dr. 
Wilson was appointed to the chair of Sys- 
tematic Divinity. This he accepted. In the 
following autumn a Special General Conven- 
tion was held. The Seminary at New Haven, 
and a Diocesan school in New York, were 
blended together; the new Institution to be 



REV. BIRD WILSON, D.D., LL.D. 67 



located in New York. At the first meeting 
of the Trustees, held Dec. 19th, 1821, Dr. Wil- 
son was reappointed to the same chair, and 
entered upon his duties the spring follow- 
ing; — duties, which, with an unfaltering de- 
votion and eminent success, he continued to 
discharge for twenty-nine years. Thus conse- 
crating to God, in this department of His great 
work, the most valuable portion of his life, 
and with results which can only be accurately 
measured when the secrets of the eternal 
world shall have been revealed to us. 

As a Professor, and in his lecture-room, he 
displayed to their best advantage every feat- 
ure of a mind, the character of which I have 
sought to develop. The text-book — be it 
Pearson, or Magee, or Scott, or Horsley — for 
the time being was his manual; and his fa- 
miliarity with the author was as complete 
and thorough, as though the volume which 
he held in his hand was the only book which 
had ever seen the light. This is readily ac- 
counted for, when it is known that hours 



68 



A MEMORIAL OF THE 



were spent daily before each recitation, in 
preparation for the particular subject of the 
day. It was his uniform custom to pace di- 
agonally across his study while thus engaged, 
until a footpath upon the carpet was worn as 
distinctly as any frequented route across a 
common. 

In one sense he was very particular to con- 
fine himself to the especial author in hand, 
which is very well illustrated by a character- 
istic anecdote. It is obvious to any one, that 
in the broad field of doctrinal Theology there 
are innumerable points upon which no ordi- 
nary Christian, even, can be presumed to be 
in utter ignorance. The appointed lessons in 
church, the prayers, the instructions of the 
pulpit, have all made these points familiar. 
And, as thus taught, even a Sunday-school 
child could state its knowledge in a very 
clear, sensible, and correct manner. Now the 
anecdote is this. That a certain student, re- 
lying upon such sources of information, and 
trusting withal to a fair share of readiness of 



REV. BIRD WILSON, D.D., LL.D. 69 

language, had shown a disposition to omit the 
attentive study of the particular author re- 
quired, and to depend upon his own general 
knowledge and resources. Doubtless, Dr. Wil- 
son had noticed this as rapidly growing up 
into an unpardonable habit of neglect of 
study. On one occasion, the gentleman re- 
ferred to was enlarging upon the point upon 
which his knowledge was required, in his 
usual easy manner, when suddenly the voice 
of the Professor arrested his farther progress. 
The Doctor very quietly, but significantly re- 
marked, "What you have given us, sir, is all 

very correct, and sensible; but, Mr. , 

what does Bishop Pearson say?" This was 
applying a searching test indeed; and the re- 
sult proved, what none had doubted from the 
onset, that the gentleman's intelligent ac- 
quaintance with the author in question was 
yet to be made. The anecdote is well worthy 
of preservation, as going to show the precise 
amount of preparation required by Dr. Wil- 
son, and especially, when nothing more was 

1 



70 



A MEMORIAL OF THE 



needed than a just and reasonable amount of 
conscientious application to study. I have 
said that he mainly confined himself to the 
author in hand; — by which I mean, that he 
made it the basis, the groundwork of the re- 
citation of the hour. But as occasion offered, 
or the subject required it, his references to 
other authors were both numerous and inval- 
uable. His comments, or criticisms, though 
brief, clear, and sententious, were always to 
the point; and he has enriched his text-books 
to a good purpose indeed, who has entered 
upon their margins what fell from the lips 
of Dr. Wilson during the recitations of his 
department. These brief notes are important 
guide-posts to the student in his after-life, the 
value of which he has fully realized and 
tested, while engaged in filling up the great 
outlines of his Seminary course. 

Upon all controverted points, the student 
was supplied with references to the most au- 
thentic documents, or distinguished advocates 
of the conflicting doctrine or opinion, in which 



REV. BIRD WILSON, D.D., LL.D. 71 

respect he closely followed the example of 
Bishop White, whom he loved as a man, re- 
vered as a divine, and valued as a scholar; 
with whom he fully sympathized on all the 
great questions of theology. 

Here too it was, in the recitations of the 
class, that the student was so often astonished 
by that peculiar nicety of discrimination 
which has already been referred to as a char- 
acteristic feature of his sermons and other 
written productions, thus bringing out shades 
of meaning, or striking distinctions, where 
before none had been dreamed of even, and 
yet, withal, so obvious, so conclusive, when 
once actually pointed out, that the student 
would often become dissatisfied, self-displeased 
at his own supposed dulness and stupidity; 
just as one witnessing the wonderful ma- 
chinery of some new and curious invention 
after having its separate parts explained and 
their adaptations noted, wonders how he 
could have failed to be himself the fortunate 
inventor. 



72 



A MEMORIAL OF THE 



But one subject, as every Alumnus of the 
Seminary will unite with me in affirming, 
but one single subject of the entire course 
ever called out from Dr. Wilson what might 
be called an animated, spirited discussion on 
his part. That subject was the very mooted 
point of the invalidity of lay baptism. It 
was for years the custom in the Seminary 
every Saturday evening for the students to 
assemble in the Chapel for prayers, the service 
being conducted by one of the Professors. 
An essay was then read by a member of the 
Senior or Middle Class on alternate evenings. 
Those of the Senior Class were upon some 
practical duty, while those of the Middle Class 
were upon some disputed doctrine, question of 
interpretation, or other point involving criti- 
cal investigation. At the conclusion of the 
essay, the students were called upon individu- 
ally for remarks, critical or practical, accord- 
ing to the subject-matter of the essay. The 
whole was closed by such suggestions as oc- 
curred to the Professor in attendance. During 



REV. BIRD WILSON, D.D., LL.D. 73 

the middle year of the class with which the 
writer was connected, an elaborate essay was 
read, devoted to the task of proving the utter 
invalidity of lay baptism. The critical ob- 
servations of the students having been brought 
to a conclusion, Dr. Wilson prefaced his own 
comments with the remark, "that as the whole 
subject would come up regularly in its course 
in the studies of his department, it would be 
unnecessary for him to detain us longer at 
that advanced hour of the evening; he would, 
however, make an observation or two." And 
having ventured thus far, he actually con- 
sumed some thirty or forty minutes in one of 
the most fluent, logical, and, in point of man- 
ner, excited discussions ever heard from him. 
This particular subject was the source of a 
good deal of innocent and always respectful 
pleasantry with every succeeding class, the 
impression having become a general one that 
the unusual warmth of feeling manifested by 
Dr. Wilson was attributable to the fact that 
he had himself received lay baptism, and 

7* 



74 



A MEMORIAL OF THE 



therefore felt a deep, personal interest in its 
thorough vindication. A supposition not en- 
tirely destitute of weight, inasmuch as he 
was, in all probability, baptized by one of 
the rigid Scotch school, then presiding over a 
congregation in Philadelphia. 

An Alumnus of the Seminary, and one of 
her most valued sons,* having received an in- 
timation that a beginning had been made in 
the collection of materials for this memorial, 
congratulates the author upon his under- 
taking, and thus refers to his late honored 
Preceptor, viz., "as one of the sweetest and 
best of characters, and one of the choicest 
scholars of the American church. May God," 
he continues, "give you the pen of a ready 
writer, and a memory to recall all that was 
lovely of that pure and bright light that was 
so long a guide to others; and that holy 
prophet, who was so long a teacher 'in the 
school of the prophets.'" And he winds up 

* The Kev. S. M. Haskins, Eector of St. Mark's Church, 
Williamsburg. 



REV. BIRD WILSON, D.D., LL.D. 75 

with a question containing a most valuable 
suggestion. "Have you/' says he, " among 
his papers, a lecture on Romans? He read it 
to our class, and its teaching was the clearest 
and best that I ever heard." 

The manuscript alluded to is now before 
me, and I feel that a greater boon could not 
be extended to his old pupils, to all students 
of Divinity at the present day, nor to the 
members of the Church generally, than by re- 
producing the entire essay in the form of an 
Appendix. 

Previous to the year 1827, the exercises of 
the Seminary were held in such suitable 
places in the City of New York as could 
be procured. The corner-stone of the eastern 
building of the two now occupied for that 
purpose was laid in 1825, a very large and 
valuable plot of ground having been deeded 
for the purpose by Clement C. Moore, LL.D., 
the distinguished Professor, subsequently, of 
the Hebrew tongue, in the institution which 
he had so nobly aided. 



76 



A MEMORIAL OF THE 



The residence, forming the western end of 
the building alluded to, became, in Oct. 1827, 
the permanent residence of Dr. Wilson. 

The neighborhood was then not unlike the 
distant outskirts of every large city, — almost 
deserted, save by an occasional old country 
mansion resisting the tide of change, together 
with the humble, unpretending abodes of the 
laboring poor. Some of the principal Avenues, 
and here and there a street across the island, 
had been graded, or partially so, leaving 
barren-looking cedars and other growths upon 
the rough, wayside hillocks,* and altogether 
as unlike the region of to-day as though they 
had been found upon different continents. 
At the period referred to it was a quiet, rural 
scene, with the picturesque banks of Hoboken 
and the Elysian Fields in full view. The 
waters of the noble Hudson sweeping by, 
almost up to the western boundary of the 
plot so munificently deeded by Dr. Moore. 

* The writer describes the region as he remembers it when 
a boy, while on a visit to Dr. Wilson. 



REV. BIRD WILSON, D.D., LL.D. 77 



A scene occasionally enlivened by the passage 
of a steamboat, or the whitened sails of the 
various river craft as they sped upon their 
way; the main dependence for the transmis- 
sion of merchandise and other products into, 
and in return from, the interior counties of 
the State. It was a quiet, studious retreat, 
away from the din and bustle of crowded 
thoroughfares, where it would seem the de- 
votee of learning had every appliance to aid 
him in his work, with naught to distract the 
mind, or call off the thoughts, from solemn, 
weighty studies. What changes time, the 
fever of speculation, and the pressing necessi- 
ties of a crowded population, have since ef- 
fected, are too well known, and, for the sake 
of the Seminary, have been too long lamented, 
to require a single word of comment here. 

Almost as a matter of necessity, provision 
had to be made near at hand for the religious 
duties of the students, especially on Sundays. 
This was at length effected by converting the 
long room, appropriated as a Library, into a 



78 



A MEMORIAL OF THE 



temporary Chapel. The matter was taken 
in hand at once by Drs. Wilson and Turner, 
who continued to officiate alternately for a 
series of years. There the Professors, with 
their families and dependents, and the stu- 
dents, (then limited in point of numbers,) 
formed, as it were, the church in one house, 
as one family, for the worship of Almighty 
God. 

But a work thus begun could not well end 
there. Devoted women, aided by the active 
co-operation of the students, and encouraged, 
at least, by the approving sanction of the 
Faculty, began to search out the neglected 
poor of a hitherto moral waste, gathering 
them in also, for instruction in religious truth 
and the practice of Christian duties. This 
effort was signally blessed. The worship of 
the few became the happy privilege of the 
many, while some of those then gathered 
there to be taught the simplest rudiments of 
the Christian faith, have since been occupied 
with marked success in preaching to others 
the comforting truths of the Gospel. 



REV. BIRD WILSON, D.D., LL.D. 79 

Thus literally "the little one became a 
thousand/' gradually adding numbers to num- 
bers, until, no longer able to provide within 
the Seminary walls for all who would share 
the Gospel feast, the Chapel of St. Peter s 
was erected; a small building, but at the time 
of its erection, considered a vast attempt for 
that poor and unsettled neighborhood. This 
in turn gave way to the present large Parish 
church of the same name, now so prosperous 
and efficient under the energetic and faithful 
Eectorship of the Kev. Dr. Beach. 

One of the number here referred to* pre- 
ceded the subject of this memoir, by some 
two years, in her journey to an honored 
grave. She had presided for years over the 
family arrangements of his household, devot- 
ing herself unreservedly, and especially in 
periods of sickness, to every student who 
might stand in need of her valuable, affec- 
tionate, and tender services. Ever among 
the most active in the service of the poor, 



* Miss Martin. 



80 



A MEMORIAL OF THE 



and untiring in the labors of the Sunday- 
school, her sterling worth has long since been 
appreciated, and upon the very walls she was 
so instrumental in aiding to rear, now stands 
an appropriate mural tablet, recording her 
virtues and attesting the gratitude of Chris- 
tian hearts. 

In the year 1826 Dr. Wilson was a candi- 
date for the office of Assistant Bishop in the 
Diocese of Pennsylvania. 

It would appear, from the address delivered 
by Bishop White at the close of the Special 
Convention of Oct. 1826, that for a year or 
more previously there had been " consulta- 
tions, and even some measures adopted to- 
ward the election of an Assistant Bishop," 
but without asking what might be the views 
or wishes of Bishop White in the premises. 

After the convention held at Beading, in 
May, 1825, the Bishop was approached by 
certain prominent members of the Clergy, 
who expressed their deep and thorough dis- 
satisfaction at the course which had been 



REV. BIRD WILSON, D.D., LL.D. 



81 



pursued, especially as his individual feelings 
on the subject seemed to have been entirely 
ignored. 

In reference to this aspect of the case, 
the Bishop, with his characteristic Christian 
meekness, yet manly dignity, replies, "I have 
nothing to answer." But in view of his age,* 
and his extended Parochial duties, and the 
increasing wants of the Diocese, "he ought 
to entertain no objection to the design," — i.e. 
the election of an Assistant. 

A Special Convention was summoned for 
the express purpose "of electing an Assistant 
Bishop, and if determined on, to carry the 
same into effect." 

It was convened on the 25th of October, 
the Sessions being held in St. Peter's Church, 
Philadelphia. 

There were difficulties, and serious ones 
too, in determining in some cases whether 
particular parties were canonically resident in 



* He was in his 80th. year. 

8 



82 



A MEMORIAL OF THE 



the Diocese, and therefore entitled to a vote. 
On the one hand efforts were made to force in 
persons whose canonical qualifications were, 
at the least, doubtful; and, on the other, sim- 
ilar efforts were made to exclude persons of 
whose right there could be no serious ques- 
tion.* 

The seat even of Dr. Wilson was disputed, 
because a Professor in the General Theologi- 
cal Seminary, but the Committee on creden- 
tials very properly reported, that u while his 
duties there are of a public and official char- 
acter, he has in no way changed his residence 
or ceased to be a resident of Pennsylvania." 

These questions having been satisfactorily 
disposed of, the Convention proceeded to a 
ballot of the Clerical members. 

The candidates were the Rev. Bird Wilson, 
D.D., and the Rev. William Meade, of Vir- 
ginia, the late Bishop of that Diocese. 

Dr. Wilson cast a blank vote. The tellers 



* These difficulties as to the competency of members were 
confined almost exclusively to the opponents of Dr. Wilson 



REV. BIRD WILSON, D.D., LL.D. 83 



announced that the Eev. Wm. Meade had re- 
ceived 27 votes, and the Rev. Dr. Wilson 26. 

The Rt. Rev. President was about to an- 
nounce the nomination of the Rev. Wm. 
Meade to the laity, when further action was 
suspended by the suggestion "that a majority 
of clerical members present had not voted 
for any candidate."* 

A supplemental report was made by the 
tellers, from which it appeared that " there 
were 54 clerical members present, and that 
one of them had declined voting/' which vote 
being counted rendered it a tie. Upon which, 
Bishop White announced "that there was no 
constitutional vote for any candidate." And 
by a subsequent resolution the whole subject 
was postponed until the next stated meeting 
of the Convention. 

That Convention was held at Harrisburg, 
May 8th, 1827. Dr. Wilson was again urged 
to allow his name to be used as a candidate, 



* The suggestion probably came from the Hon. Joseph E. 
Ingersoll. 



84 



A MEMORIAL OF THE 



but he peremptorily declined. It was at this 
Convention that the late Henry U. Onder- 
donk, D.D., late Bishop, was duly elected.* 

Within hut a few years of his decease, 
Bishop White, in alluding to this period, was 
often heard to remark, that it gave him, at 
the time, more distress and anxiety than all 
the delays and diffiulties connected with ob- 
taining the Episcopate from England, and the 
trials connected with the early establishment 
of the Church in this country as an independ- 
ent branch. 

In proof of the deep solicitude caused him 
by the undue prevalence of party spirit, take 
the following from his address to the Stated 
Convention of 1827:— 

"Before the rising of the body, (referring 
to the late Special Convention,) I was asked 
publicly whether I would again recommend 



* The above detail is made from the journals of Conven- 
tion, and by information kindly furnished by the Kev. John 
Rodney and the Hon. Horace Binney. See also Dr. Wilson's 
Memoir of Bishop White, pp. 216-228. 



REV. BIRD WILSON, D.D., LL.D. 85 

the measure (i.e. the election of an Assistant 
Bishop) to the Convention which would be 
assembled in May. My answer, made publicly 
also, was that I would not; although I should 
naturally be led to mention the subject as 
that for which the Special Convention had 
been called to no purpose. 

" My reason for the limitation arose from 
the excitement of feelings which I had per- 
ceived to be produced; and out of occurrences 
which my mind could not reconcile to the integ- 
rity of ecclesiastical proceedings ; such as I had 
never before witnessed in our Church, and con- 
cerning which I was resolved, that if there 
should be a continuance of them, no act of mine 
should contribute to it"* 

The conclusion of this address has a solemn, 
touching interest, and in quoting it I have no 
desire to rekindle fires which it is to be hoped 
have been smothered if not extinguished, but 
simply to give completeness to the records of a 



* See Journal of Pennsylvania Convention for 1827, p. 10. 

8* 



86 



A MEMORIAL OF THE 



period which should be marked, if for no other 
reason, as a solemn warning to us in the future. 

The address concludes thus: — 

"Brethren :— During the long course of my 
presiding in the councils of this Diocese, I 
have witnessed the Church within it brought 
from a state bordering on annihilation, and 
extended as we perceive it to be at present. 

" Within all that time, until lately, there 
has been felt generally the influence of the 
spirit of that peace which our Saviour left as 
a legacy to His disciples in His interview with 
them immediately before His passion. This 
state of amity has always been considered as 
one of the best of the blessings which a gra- 
cious Providence has bestowed on me. 

"From present appearances I perceive rea- 
son to fear that trials, hitherto unknown, are 
reserved for the small remainder of my days. 

" I have painfully witnessed the progress of 
ecclesiastical transactions in contrariety to 
the clearest dictates of religious and moral 
obligation; not without the accompaniment 



REV. BIRD WILSON, D.D., LL.D. 87 

of indignities personally wounding to my 
feelings, such as I think unmerited, and cer- 
tainly such as I have been a stranger to in 
my earlier years. 

"The subject is mentioned with a view of 
pledging my assurance to those who seek the 
integrity of our Zion, that during my con- 
tinuance in life, and looking to Divine aid 
for support, I will bear my testimony in favor 
of the truths of our holy religion, as exhib- 
ited by the institutions of our Church, and 
against all endeavors directed to their destruc- 
tion, or to their deterioration. 

"While in respect to what concerns me 
personally, I do not affect insensibility to the 
circumstance, it will be my prayer, that, 
through the grace of God, I may be preserved 
from every grade of hostility to any indi- 
vidual in return, and from its being felt in 
the intercourse and the duties attached to my 
official character."* 



* See Journal for 1827, p. 22. 



88 



A MEMORIAL OF THE 



One other circumstance connected with 
this period deserves notice. It is unques- 
tionably true that Bishop White's choice in 
the contemplated election would have been 
Dr. Wilson. One whom he had known and 
watched from childhood, whom he had ever 
loved, and who had occupied the position of 
a pupil in Theology. But, he invariably 
pursued the same dignified, high-minded 
course. He would nominate no one as his 
associate in the administration of the Dio- 
cese. He would not lend himself to the 
work of electioneering for his favorite. 

He told his Convention,* that " whatever 
might be construed as an endeavor to give 
direction to your proceedings has been 
avoided. It is my intention/' he adds, "to 
persevere in this line of conduct, especially 
so far as the contrary might have a bearing 
upon the character or qualifications of any 
individual until the subject shall be brought 
before the House of Bishops." 



* See Journal for 1826, pp. 20, 21. 



REV. BIRD WILSON, D.D., LL.D. 



89 



I have often heard the following statement 
from one who knew Bishop White intimately, 
and was, at this period, an active member of 
the Convention.* It was to this effect: that 
the Bishop was approached by some promi- 
nent gentlemen, who were anxious to hear 
from his own lips who would be the most ac- 
ceptable to him. His reply, in few, but 
pregnant words, was most significant. " Gen- 
tlemen, I have such confidence in the Conven- 
tion of my Diocese that I shall most cheer- 
fully accept any person whom they may see 
fit to assign me." 

In 1829 Dr. Wilson was elected Secretary 
of the House of Bishops, in which capacity 
he continued to serve the Church until 1841, 
when he declined re-election. 

In the month of July, on Sunday the 
17th, 1836, after a brief illness, the vener- 
able Bishop White "was gathered unto his 
fathers." When the question arose in his 

* The Rev. Wm. Cooper Mead, D.D., now of the Diocese 
of Connecticut. 



90 



A MEMORIAL OF THE 



family as to whom should be entrusted his 
literary remains, and the pleasing duty of 
commemorating his singular virtues, every 
eye was turned upon Dr. Wilson, whose 
" faithful assistant, firm friend, and admiring 
disciple he had ever been." In the wisdom 
of this selection the family of the Bishop 
were confirmed by the unanimous action of 
the Clergy of Philadelphia, together with 
other distinguished gentlemen, who had come 
from the adjacent, and even distant Dioceses 
of our country, to attend the funeral of that 
lamented Prelate. 

That work of love was undertaken as de- 
sired, and was published in 1839. "A 
work," says one, "which is not likely to be 
superseded." It was pre-eminently the most 
fitting choice, "for," to quote again, "he bore, 
himself, a striking resemblance to him whom 
he thus worthily commemorated. There was 
the same modesty and gentleness of soul, the 
same kindly urbanity so characteristic of 
gentlemen of the old school, the same clear- 



REV. BIRD WILSON, D.D., LL.D. 91 

ness, as well as moderation of views, the 
same indestructible firmness with which 
principles were held, and the same delicate 
conscientiousness in regard to the rights and 
opinions and feelings of others, which is the 
channel by which a reverent esteem flows 
easily into love."* 

The Memoir of Bishop White, by Dr. "Wil- 
son, is virtually the history of the early 
establishment of the Church in this land as 
an independent branch of the one Church 
Catholic. This is owing to the intimate con- 
nection of its subject with all the important 
movements of that period. 

As an exposition of the distinctive theo- 
logical position of the Bishop, it is as clear as 
it is impartial and entirely reliable. A work 
demanding patient thought and long-con- 
tinued research; one, we may add, which 
has done full justice to both subject and 
author. 



* See an obituary notice of Dr. Wilson, in the editorial 
columns of "The Church Journal." 



92 



A MEMORIAL OF THE 



From the date to which the publication of 
this Memoir has brought us onward to 1844, 
there appears to have been nothing of any 
moment to vary the even, quiet tenor of Dr. 
Wilson's ordinary, but ever studious, life. 
During the sessions of the Seminary, which 
occupied the greater portion of every year, 
he had, of course, his usual routine of labor 
connected with his department, a routine 
which, with his conscientious views and sin- 
gular devotion to the best interests of the 
students, was far from being a sinecure; not- 
withstanding that, year after year he was 
called to traverse the same path with every 
step of which he must long since have grown 
perfectly familiar. He was a student to the 
last, and more than this, he kept pace with 
the Theological literature of his day, a thing 
by no means common with professional men 
at his advanced period of life. 

The full and extended notes which he has 
left behind him are witnesses. Edwards, 
Wilberforce on the Incarnation, Moehler, 



REV. BIRD WILSON, D.D., LL.D. 93 

Milner's End of Controversy, the Oxford 
Tracts, the British Critic and other publica- 
tions of the day, all attest the critical eye 
with which he read. The author in hand 
was not treated with the supercilious indif- 
ference of some modern, flippant reviewer, 
who places the bare title of a book at the 
head of his article as a motto to some dis- 
quisition of his own, but the author s every 
position was carefully noted for approbation 
or rejection, as he taught, or failed to teach, 
the truth in its integrity. And thus, in the 
pleasant intercourse of books, or with friends, 
who were ever most welcome guests at his 
hospitable board, and in his systematic round 
of exercise, his days were passed in tran- 
quil, quiet enjoyment. He seemed to breathe 
the very atmosphere of sweet serenity, while, 
at the same time, he took a lively interest 
in whatever of concernment was passing in 
the world around him, or within the more 
retired circles of private friendship. Per- 
haps he scarce ever appeared to greater 

9 



94 



A MEMORIAL OF THE 



advantage, or to enjoy himself more thor- 
oughly, than when seated in his study with 
some who had graduated under his own eye, 
listening to whatever most concerned them 
in the management of their respective cures, 
and, doubtless, comparing, in his own mind, 
the character and results of their ministra- 
tions with his own previously formed opinions 
of them, while candidates only for the sacred 
work in which they were now actively en- 
gaged. Be the topic what it might, whether 
the details, the pleasures, the embarrassments 
of Parochial labor, or the systematic course 
of study and reading which are so indispen- 
sable to the faithful, thoroughly furnished 
Pastor; each and all had its peculiar interest 
in his eyes, an interest which betrayed itself 
in words, and a manner which could not be 
misunderstood. It was in just such that he 
sought the fruits, — the grateful returns of 
his own devoted labors. 

To this class must be added the resident 
students, who were still preparing to gird on 



REV. BIRD WILSON, D.D., LL.D. 95 



the armor, in which they were to be called to 
fight the battles of the Lord, and of His 
Church. These also were ever most welcome 
visitants. Hour after hour has been passed 
by them in refreshing their minds at this 
pure, bright fountain of truth and learning, — 
and with the image of that holy man must 
ever be associated, until memory shall fail, 
the blessed privilege they enjoyed of thus 
holding intimate communion with one who 
could resolve their doubts, clear up their dif- 
ficulties, and cheer them onward in the toil- 
some, and often rugged path of sacred learn- 
ing. In this way, the very richest stores of 
knowledge were laid up for future use; — 
treasures of wisdom, which, in all probability, 
might never have been gleaned from any 
other source. The mere fact that there was 
one single person to whom a zeal for the truth 
had been imparted, seemed to render that 
person an object of very peculiar interest, — 
quickening the ardor of his well furnished 
Professor so to con vey the coveted knowledge, 



96 



A MEMORIAL OF THE 



as would not only satisfy the wants of his 
hearer; but it was also imparted with a win- 
ning kindliness of manner, such as might 
tempt him back again on the same useful 
errand. 

There was everything to attract; nought 
to repel. No dogmatism, — no impatience, — 
no supercilious looking down upon what some 
might regard and treat as a degrading confes- 
sion of ignorance upon the part of the ap- 
plicant. 

Heart, mind, all that he had, were sacredly 
devoted to the work of aiding others in their 
efforts to reach the elevated stand-point which 
he so meekly occupied. And the apprecia- 
tion of this signal interest was shown in the 
fact, that his leisure hours were but seldom 
passed alone. 

The exact position occupied by Dr. Wilson 
as a Theologian, may be thus described. He 
stood the acknowledged representative of the 
standard divines of the Church of England. 

Upon the subject of an Apostolical Minis- 



REV. BIRD WILSON, D.D., LL.D. 97 

try, his views were very much the same as 
those of Bishop White, — as is evident from 
the most cursory examination of his Memoir 
of that distinguished Prelate, — views which 
might well be classed under Archbishop 
Leighton's heading of " Moderate Episcopacy." 

Upon the Sacraments of the Church, he 
held the high ground so long occupied by the 
Church in her acknowledged Standards, as 
derived from Scripture, and the unbroken cur- 
rent of Primitive teaching, witnessing the 
sense in all ages, as to what those Scriptures 
teach. 

The same may be said of the doctrines of 
grace, so far more especially as those doctrines 
conflict with a certain system, the coinage of 
the fertile, but speculative brain of St. Augus- 
tine ; — a system now known, by common 
consent, as Calvinism, — but for which John 
Calvin has done no more than simply to ar- 
range and systematize into a definite creed, 
the teachings of his favorite master. 

Dr. Wilson held— he taught no dogmas in 
9* 



98 



A MEMORIAL OF THE 



common with that system. This was patent 
to all who ever attended the recitations of his 
class-room; and was, moreover, avowed under 
his own hand, in a short but pithy answer to 
one of the 40 questions submitted by the 
Bishops of the Church, in their capacity as 
visitors of the Seminary.* In corroboration of 
this statement, let the reader take the follow- 
ing passages from his manuscript notes and 
criticisms upon " Witsius on the Covenant,"— 
extracts which might be multiplied, and all 
of the one character, to any extent. He 
says: — 

"The clear, plain, and correct doctrine 
seems to be that mankind, after the fall, were 
still under obligation to obey the moral law, 
as originally given, — that they incur its pen- 
alty as sinners,- — that an universal remedy^ 
has been provided for them by the covenant 
of grace, (the Gospel,) according to which, 

* His exact language is this : "As to the five points of 
Calvinism, no one of them is taught by me, as I do not hold 
them ; but the views of both parties are duly examined." 

t The words are italicized as in the manuscript. 



REV. BIRD WILSON, D.D., LL.D. 



99 



they are, through faith on their part, pardoned 
and accepted into favor, and consequently re- 
warded by God, for the sake, and on account of 
the merits of the Redeemer, and not in conse- 
quence of the imputation or transfer of His 
righteousness to them as their own. Their faith 
is declared by the New Testament, and by 
the Old, to be imputed to them for righteous- 
ness, (or justification.") Again : — 

"The imputation of Christ's righteousness to 
Christians for justification, is as untenable a 
proposition as the imputation of Adam's sin to 
his posterity for condemnation to eternal pun- 
ishment. The true representation of the Gos- 
pel is, that for Christ's sake, and on account of 
His merits and sufferings, the real Christian is 
pardoned and accepted, on complying with 
the terms of evangelical faith and obedience, 
which are imputed to him for righteousness'' 

Once more: — "I am more fully convinced 
of the entire weakness of the support alleged 
to be given by the Scriptures to the Calvinistic 
doctrine, — (speaking of election.) Nothing, 



100 



A MEMORIAL OF THE 



it appears to me, could give even plausibility 
to their reasoning, except a license taken too 
commonly by controversialists, of interpreting 
and applying passages, (even verses, and parts 
of verses,) as if they were isolated texts, without 
due regard to the subject treated of, the 
course of reasoning, and general design of the 
writer; which is so necessary, that without it 
the true meaning of no author can be satis- 
factorily determined. Hence passages relat- 
ing to entirely different subjects are forcibly 
wrested, to be applied to this. It is more easy 
to follow this course, but very unfavorable to 
truth." 

In another place he speaks of the effect of 
the Calvinistic system: — "It has a natural 
tendency to produce spiritual pride, and a 
neglect of exertion." 

Now, while all were made very clearly to 
understand Dr. Wilson's position on every 
disputed doctrine, yet no one was ever en- 
couraged to adopt views, the result of his own 
patient thought and investigation, except so 



REV. BIRD WILSON, D.D., LL.D. 101 

far as the arguments and authorities adduced 
by him were calculated to bring conviction to 
the mind of the student. 

As the whole subject of the Ministry be- 
longed to another chair, Dr. Wilson's own 
opinions upon that important point were 
gleaned chiefly from private interviews, — at 
least, prior to his publication of the Memoir 
of Bishop White. 

The course in his department, restricted in 
a great degree for the want of adequate time, 
(and it was often the subject of his deep re- 
gret,) that course was thorough, clear, defi- 
nite, and satisfactory. It involved an amount 
of mental training and discipline which, of 
itself, and aside from the large accessions to 
one's stores of indispensable learning, was 
such as has led many a graduate to look back 
in after-years upon the hours thus spent with 
infinite satisfaction, as the solid groundwork 
of their Ecclesiastical education. It was a 
department which at almost every step in- 
volved the refreshing of one's knowledge of 



102 



A MEMORIAL OF THE 



Ecclesiastical history; and especially in refer- 
ence to the points on which the Church comes 
in collision with Rome on the one hand, and 
with Socinianism in all its gradations on the 
other. And when we reflect upon the vast 
importance of every branch of Theological 
learning to the intellectual furniture of the 
Ministry, it would be difficult, and might seem 
invidious, to draw any comparison. This I 
shall not attempt, — while at the same time, 
the indispensable necessity of a correct under- 
standing of Systematic divinity, to give order, 
harmony, symmetry, and a due proportion to 
the instructions of the Ministry, will readily 
suggest itself to any one who will reflect for 
a moment upon the nature of the subjects 
embraced in that department. 

Pearson, Magee, Scott, Horsley, White, and 
Waterland were studied with a minuteness of 
detail, which brought every feature of their 
great works fully before the mind of the 
pupil; and they were acknowledged master- 
builders in that Temple, whose foundations 



REV. BIRD WILSON, D.D., LL.D. 103 

have been laid broad and deep upon the 
Kock of Ages. 

Would that a journey, hitherto so uni- 
formly tranquil, could have closed without 
one rough spot to mar its pleasures ! Would 
that that noble Institution, which was Dr. 
Wilson's pride and boast, where his thoughts 
and affections centered, in whose growing 
prosperity, and consequently, increasing use- 
fulness, none could have taken a deeper or 
more personal interest, — would that it could 
have continued ever on as it had been from 
the beginning, the most attractive of retreats 
for Theological study ! 

The acknowledged learning of its Profes- 
sors, the finished preparation of its graduates 
had given it, most deservedly, a very high 
rank among the Institutions of our land. 
While differences of sentiment might and did 
exist, they had never, as yet, disturbed the 
harmony of the School, or in any way tram- 
melled the wholesome influences of its Faculty. 
The discipline, — if discipline could be said to 



104 



A MEMORIAL OF THE 



exist at all, whose hand none felt, — the dis- 
cipline so indispensable for the proper regula- 
tion of men wherever they may be gathered, 
or for whatever purpose, was of the most 
gentle and kindly character. 

There were honest differences of opinion, 
upon subjects, too, of vast importance. There 
were well-marked, easily discernible grades of 
Churchmanship, among both Faculty and stu- 
dents. But these peculiarities, of whatever 
nature, were rudely and forcibly obtruded 
upon no one. They were just such differences 
as always have, — as always will exist. And 
so long as they endangered no essential arti- 
cle of saving faith, or clearly-ruled doctrine 
of the Church, such differences were tolerated. 
They might be discussed, indeed, with all the 
zeal and earnestness which are usually char- 
acteristic of men; especially in the mainte- 
nance and defence of their settled and ma- 
tured religious opinions, — but always with 
charity, — with the disposition to concede to 
others what they themselves claimed, as 



REV. BIRD WILSON, D.D., LL.D. 105 

among the reserved rights of every honest 
and thoughtful man. All seemed to act with 
one accord upon the advice of good old Bishop 
Hall, — " though your brains be different, let 
your hearts be one." 

An open conflict with a member of the 
Faculty, the thought of an attempt even, to 
curtail his influence with others, were things 
undreamed of. And as a result, they parted 
from those venerable guides upon the comple- 
tion of their studies, utterly overwhelmed 
with gratitude for their assiduous labors in 
their behalf. Yea, and more, well knowing 
that they were followed by those same guides 
in their prayers to Heaven, for ever-renewed 
measures of grace, strength, wisdom, and zeal, 
in the prosecution of the great work for which 
they had striven to prepare them. 

The seeds of their future usefulness had 
been sown there. The first fruits of the after- 
harvest of attainments were garnered there. 
The foundation-stone of the future fabric had 
been laid there. The sacred training of their 

10 



106 



A MEMORIAL OF THE 



Alma Mater had made them all they were; 
the ever-progressive development of that same 
training could alone make them what they 
hoped to be. The Seminary had proved a 
peaceful/ happy home to them for diligent 
study; and upon these tranquil hours they 
should often look back with the painful re- 
alization that they were gone, to return to 
them no more forever, when once dismissed 
to the earnest work of life. Such it had 
proved to hundreds. As such, they now look 
back upon it through many intervening years, 
in which they have so often sighed for the 
quiet peacefulness, for the relief from many 
and weighty cares and responsibilities, and 
from those struggles with the world which 
have made the bitter contrast only the more 
marked and striking. 

But we now approach a chapter in this 
history, when the bright scene becomes 
clouded, when the happy reign of tranquil- 
lity was for a time suspended. Angry con- 
troversy raging, if not in, at least around that 



REV. BIRD WILSON, D.D., LL.D. 107 

once peaceful retreat, and making it, of all 
things to be dreaded and deprecated, the 
fruitful theme of angry religious newspaper 
controversy; where common courtesy, to say 
nothing of Christian love, are too often lost 
sight of, in bitter, personal, and uncharitable 
recrimination, if not in positive abuse. 

It is a chapter which, on every account, I 
should much prefer should be passed over in 
utter, mournful silence. It revealed many, 
many weaknesses; it alienated many Christian 
hearts; it awakened many an unfounded sus- 
picion; it placed men, good and true, in false 
lights; to say nothing of the withering influ- 
ence of all such evil ingredients upon the 
future growth and usefulness of an Institution, 
whose most reliable dependence must ever 
be, the unshaken confidence of the Bishops, 
Clergy, and Laity of the whole united Church. 

It will ever be the source of devout grati- 
tude to God with the many, that they knew 
only of this painful era from what they had 
heard or read. The cruel storm burst not 



108 



A MEMORIAL OF THE 



in their day. They were not involved in this 
angry strife of tongues and pens. And, as 
has been already intimated, the whole subject 
would now be gladly left to moulder with the 
musty pamphlets in which the unpalatable 
records are to be found, were it not for the 
marked bearing of this humiliating period 
upon the after-life of Dr. Wilson, — a bearing 
which cannot be ignored, without leaving a 
large and most important blank unfilled. 

In unfolding this portion of the subject, I 
shall confine myself to a simple outline of the 
main facts, as gathered from the interesting 
Autobiography of the late venerated Dr. Tur- 
ner, the official records of the period, and 
the private papers of Dr. Wilson. Thus 
leaving the war of pamphlets to be studied at 
leisure, by those whose controversial partial- 
ities may incline to such unprofitable labor. 

One thing, it is to be hoped, may at this 
late date be confidently affirmed of all, of 
whatever side or party in the conflict. And 
it is this : — that with the gradual decay of a 



REV. BIRD WILSON, D.D., LL.D. 109 

wild, blinding excitement, with the sober- 
ing, mellowing influences of time, and calm 
reflection, they now read this chapter in their 
history with other eyes, and with the prayer, 
that God may forgive them whatever of bit- 
terness, uncharitableness, or error, may have 
been the fruit of haste, anger, or inconsidera- 
tion. But to proceed: — 

Let us now, most reluctantly, advert to the 
leading outlines merely of this painful history. 

At a meeting of the Trustees held in 1844, 
certain rumors decidedly unfavorable to the 
Seminary, were brought to the notice of the 
Board, through the medium of certain resolu- 
tions which had been adopted at a late Con- 
vention of the Diocese of South Carolina. 
These rumors were based upon the supposi- 
tion that opinions having a strong, decided, 
and very pernicious leaning toward Roman- 
ism were propagated, and had already gained 
a most dangerous foothold among the stu- 
dents. The whole subject, as thus introduced, 
was referred to a committee, with instructions 

10* 



110 



A MEMORIAL OF THE 



to report upon the same to the Triennial 
Meeting of the Board, to be held in September. 
In October following, the General Conven- 
tion was in session, — the triennial meetings 
of the Trustees being purposely so arranged 
as to be coincident with the sessions of that 
body. At that meeting of the assembled wis- 
dom and piety of the Church, the whole sub- 
ject of the Seminary was given a most fitting 
prominence in their deliberations. A list of 
40 questions was adopted by the House of 
Bishops, the questions to be sent to each 
member of the Faculty, and to be answered, 
in writing, by a given date. The questions 
covered, or were designed to cover, the whole 
ground, as to the tone of teaching, the state of 
discipline, and the general deportment of the 
students. On that list of questions, of which 
very much might be said in detail, let one 
general remark suffice. 

No one can read them without seeing at a 
glance that they were prompted and framed 
by two distinct classes of men ; men holding 



REV. BIRD WILSON, D.D., LL.D. Ill 

very diverse views upon certain leading doc- 
trinal questions, as well as to the expediency 
and propriety of this particular method of 
dealing with that Institution. In other words, 
the language seemed to be that if great prom- 
inence must needs be given to what were 
regarded as errors in one direction, that at- 
tempt should be met, the movement check- 
mated by propounding equally significant 
questions, as to whether errors had not been 
propagated in the opposite direction. The 
bare questions of themselves, without any 
reference to cotemporary evidence of the 
fact, make this assertion too painfully evident, 
and thus stands revealed the whole character 
of the conflict. 

To these questions each Professor returned 
an answer in his own way, in some instances 
in a very characteristic way, and upon his 
own responsibility. 

At a meeting of the Trustees held Oct. 30th, 
with the answers above referred to before 
them, two resolutions were adopted, the one 



112 



A MEMORIAL OF THE 



denying "the existence of any evidences that 
superstitious or Romish practices are allowed 
or encouraged in the Institution." The other, 
"that the Bishops deem the publication of the 
questions of the Bishops, and the answers of 
the Professors, the most appropriate reply to 
the current rumors concerning the doctrinal 
teaching of the Seminary." 

Thus far all is perfectly satisfactory. The 
note of danger had been early sounded, the 
warning had been as promptly heeded, and 
as a result, it was found to have been prema- 
ture, or based only upon the authority of ir- 
responsible rumors. 

Shortly after this, however, representations 
were made to the Faculty that there were cer- 
tain young men in their midst whose position 
was very questionable. Who, in error them- 
selves, were also active in diffusing the poison. 
Meetings of the Faculty were immediately 
summoned by Dr. Wilson, the Dean, which 
were adjourned from day to day, for the 
careful, thorough investigation of what are 



REV. BIRD WILSON, D.D., LL.D. 113 

termed in some of Dr. Wilson's notes, " cer- 
tain cases of discipline." 

The whole resulted in a formal request by 
the Faculty for the withdrawal of two as stu- 
dents of the Institution, and in the voluntary 
retirement of some two or three others. 

These meetings were held in June, 1845. 
The final report was read to the Faculty by 
the Dean, after which the notices were issued 
and served upon the parties interested. 

Such are the main features of the case, as 
gathered from the records, to which should 
be added, what probably no one will dispute, 
that while the influence exerted by the Semi- 
nary was a judicious, wholesome, and truth- 
ful one; yet there were other influences, from 
without, but brought to bear within its walls, 
of a character far different, and for which the 
Faculty could in no sense be held responsible. 

This detailed " report of cases of discipline" 
was read to the Faculty by Dr. Wilson, in his 
character as Dean, as before stated. But in 
the midst of doing so, he suddenly became so 



114 



A MEMORIAL OF THE 



confused as to be obliged for a short space to 
suspend the duty. He was aware of the 
difficulty himself, and begged the indulgence 
of those present for a moment. It was a 
painful scene to all who witnessed it, creating 
no little alarm, until their venerated col- 
league appeared to have again fully rallied, 
so as to be able to complete his sad task. 
This circumstance was subsequently related 
to the late Dr. Cam man, of New York, who, 
in connection with Dr Welles, attended him 
in his weary illness. In the opinion of Dr. 
Camman, a justly celebrated pathologist, the 
inception of his disease might be dated from 
that moment, the disease itself being the re- 
sult in a great degree, if not wholly, of the 
bitter, wearing trial through which he had 
been called to pass. Nothing which had ever 
occurred to him in the whole course of a long 
life, was known so to prey upon and depress 
his spirits, as did this period of deep anxiety. 
He looked haggard, careworn, utterly heart- 
sick. He spent sleepless nights, and refused 



REV. BIRD WILSON, D.D., LL.D. 115 

even his accustomed nourishment. The one 
fruitful source of distress was ever upper- 
most; he could not shake it off. It was 
bearing him down like a leaden burden. 

All who saw him, however casually, were 
struck by the marked change which a few 
short weeks had wrought, and none were at 
a loss to account for the reason of that change. 
Nor did he ever fully recover from the cruel 
shock which that disastrous period had given 
him. For it regulated and controlled all his 
relations to the Seminary, even after his res- 
ignation of his Chair. And this was seen as 
long as he was spared the wonted enjoyment 
of his mental faculties in all their vigor, as 
well as again and again during the eclipse of 
those faculties, which, with the exception of 
some lucid, happy intervals, continued to the 
last. 

This recalls a fact often observed in his 
case, that when apparently most completely 
under the benumbing influence of disease, or 
most disturbed by that peculiar nervous irri- 



116 



A MEMORIAL OF THE 



tation, which is one of its usual attendants, 
we often succeeded in arresting the gloomy 
train of thought by some reference to his 
favorite authors, upon whom he would for a 
time discourse with all the interest and intel- 
ligence which he had ever shown. Another 
circumstance akin to this was also noticed, 
and has been very feelingly adverted to by 
Dr. Turner, in his sermon commemorative 
of Dr. Wilson, a topic upon which he was 
abundantly qualified to speak, from his own 
experience and observation at the bedside 
of his venerated friend. It is this. That how- 
ever wandering his mind might be, the very 
first audible sound of the familiar prayers of 
the Church, called back his scattered thoughts, 
fixing them upon God and the eternal world. 
In which prayers he ever joined heartily, aud- 
ibly, and, of course, intelligently. There was 
a voice within answering to the voice with- 
out. A chord had been touched which never 
refused to vibrate in harmony, a calm repose, 
a heavenly expression of perfect peace rested 



REV. BIRD WILSON, D.D., LL.D. 117 

upon the very lineaments of his countenance 
however it might give place to other emotions, 
when the sweet control exercised by religious 
associations seemed to have melted away with 
the last fading accents of devotion. 

The document prepared for the Faculty "in 
certain cases of discipline/' and referred to 
above, was subsequently laid before the Trus- 
tees, and drew from the Rev. Dr. Haight the 
following note : — 

"Dear Dr. Wilson: — I must tell you how 
very favorably your paper was received by the 
Trustees. It was listened to with the most 
marked attention, and drew forth from seve- 
ral of the ablest and most influential mem- 
bers the highest encomiums for its ability, 
its clearness, and its Christian love. I am 
satisfied that it has produced just the effect 
which we all desired should be produced. 
For my own part, I most devoutly thank 
God, that in these troublous times you are 
found at the head of the Seminary, and that 
we have enjoyed throughout the benefit of 

11 



118 



A MEMORIAL OF THE 



your wisdom, prudence, and long experience. 
Praying our Heavenly Father to preserve 
you in health, and to bless you abundantly, 
temporally and spiritually, 

"I am, etc." 

On the 28th day of June, 1848, Dr. Wil- 
son communicated his resignation of his Pro- 
fessorship to the Trustees of the Seminary in 
the following letter. : — 

" Seminary, 28th June, 1848. 
" To the Board of Trustees, etc. 

"Gentlemen: — According to a notice pre- 
viously given to two of the Bishops,* and to 
the members of the Standing Committee of 
the Trustees,*} - 1 hereby resign the Professor- 
ship of Systematic Divinity which I have 
held in this Institution during nearly twenty- 
seven years; the resignation to take effect on 
the 1st day of August next. 

"My advanced age, (as I shall complete 
my seventy-second year very soon after the 



* Bishops Brownwell and Potter, of Pennsylvania, 
t Through the Rev. Dr. Berrian, Chairman. 



REV. BIRD WILSON, D.D., LL.D. 119 

commencement of the next term,) with the 
increased difficulties and responsibility of my 
Professorship in the present state of our 
Church, makes it very desirable to me to be 
relieved from those duties, and I trust that 
when considered in connection with the long 
period during which I have been engaged in 
the Seminary, it will not be regarded by the 
Trustees as an insufficient justification of the 
present resignation. 

"Very respectfully yours, etc." 
Now, although the fact "of advancing 
years" is alluded to in this letter, yet Dr. 
Wilson still retained both his mental and 
physical vigor almost unimpaired, and of 
this fact he could not himself have been 
entirely unconscious. But the great stress 
of his letter — and it was the great consid- 
eration which weighed so heavily upon his 
heart — the great stress is laid upon "the 
increased difficulties and responsibility of 
my Professorship in the present state of our 
Church." 



120 



A MEMORIAL OF THE 



The resignation having been thus tendered, 
a unanimous and most flattering request was 
at once made by the Trustees, that he would 
withdraw the paper. 

Dr. Wilson having heard of the result of 
the action of the Board through the medium 
of a friend, and before the arrival of the offi- 
cial notice, was evidently taken by surprise; 
he having been solemnly and most painfully 
impressed with the conviction that the step 
he had taken would be responded to with 
alacrity. In other words, that he was no 
longer regarded as either desirable or useful 
in his Professorial capacity. It was an im- 
pression for which, I believe, no other cause 
could be assigned than the depressed, un- 
happy state of his own feelings, as one of the 
results of this unhappy period. 

The resignation was withdrawn, as re- 
quested, but with the assurance of its renewal 
at no very distant day. To show the effect 
of all this upon persons in no way connected 
with the Seminary, yet anxious for its con- 



REV. BIRD WILSON", D.D., LL.D. 121 

tinued well-being, I will quote in this connec- 
tion a portion of a letter from the late Prof. 
Henry Keed, of the University of Pennsylva- 
nia. It is dated July 6th, 1848. 

After stating that he had just heard of the 
withdrawal of the resignation, he adds: "I 
now take the very earliest opportunity of 
writing a few lines to say how much we are 
gratified at this last piece of intelligence. I 
can assure you that all your friends here were 
sincerely grieved, when they heard of your 
intended resignation. At the time, I felt a 
very strong desire to express regret to you, 
and to say all I could in the way of dissua- 
sion, but I forebore, from an unwillingness to 
importune you on a subject which I thought 
might already have given you much solici- 
tude, and on which your mind appeared to be 
made up finally. We are very much pleased 
to learn that such expressions of opinion and 
feeling have been made to you, as to change 
your decision. On your own account, and 
still more on account of the Seminary and the 

11* 



122 



A MEMORIAL OF THE 



Church, I am truly rejoiced to think of your 
continuance in the Professorship, which has 
so identified the Seminary with you." 

The feeling thus affectionately and justly 
expressed was shared by hundreds in every 
quarter of our land, who had long known and 
valued the distinguished usefulness of that 
venerated man, especially in the important 
position which he had done so much to adorn . 

Under the peculiar circumstances of the 
times, it would have proved a very severe 
blow to the Church, to say nothing of the 
equally difficult and delicate task of provid- 
ing a successor who could have filled the va- 
cancy. 

Two years after this, on the 25th of June, 
1850, the resignation was again pressed, and 
at last accepted; but with such expressions 
of heart-felt gratitude for his past labors, and 
with such regrets that they were now to be ter- 
minated, as must have contributed in no slight 
degree, to soften, if not efface, the painful 
recollections connected with a period in the 



REV. BIRD WILSON, D.D., LL.D. 123 

history of the Seminary, now gone, and it is 
to be hoped, never more to return. 

In 1855 Dr. Wilson was elected a member 
of the Board of Trustees of the Seminary, by 
the Convention of the Diocese of Pennsylva- 
nia, to fill a vacancy in the number to which 
she was entitled, by the removal of a gentle- 
man from that State. In his letter of decli- 
nation, he assures the Trustees that he felt 
" gratified and honored by this additional evi- 
dence of their regard and approbation." He 
adds : " My interest in the Seminary continues 
strong, although I am no longer engaged in 
active duty to promote its welfare. But, after 
due consideration, I have concluded it is most 
proper, both for my own situation and the 
interests of the Seminary, that I should not 
accept the seat in the Board to which I have 
been elected. The causes which led to my 
resignation of the Professorship formerly held 
by me, appear to apply to the present subject 
with equal, and in some respects with geater 
force." 



124 



A MEMORIAL OF THE 



One additional mark of honor from the 
Trustees still awaited him. He received the 
appointment of Emeritus Professor, — an honor 
shared by him with Dr. Clement C. Moore, 
whose connection with the Institution ceased 
at the same period. 

In the year 1821 Dr. Wilson received his 
degree of Doctor of Divinity, from the Uni- 
versity of Pennsylvania; a mark of distinction 
the more valuable, as coming from a Board 
which has always been composed of the most 
distinguished gentlemen of Philadelphia; and 
from an Institution which has never been in- 
considerately or unwisely lavish in the dis- 
tribution of its Academic honors. 

On the 7th of October, 1845, the degree of 
LL.D. was also conferred upon him, by Co- 
lumbia College, New York; and in this case, 
under circumstances of high consideration, as 
will appear from the following note of the 
Eev. Dr. Haight. He says : " I must express 
to you the great pleasure I feel at the action 
of the Board of Trustees of Columbia College, 



REV. BIRD WILSON, D.D., LL.D. 125 

at their meeting this evening, from which I 
have just returned, in conferring upon you, 
by an unanimous vote, the honorary degree of 
LL.D. 

"It is the first time in a long series of 
years, in which the Board have conferred this 
degree upon a Clergyman, being D.D. But in 
your case, from your character, and exten- 
sive and varied attainments, and your emi- 
nent services in the cause of religion and 
learning, there was no hesitancy in departing 
from the general practice. I rejoice at it, 
and that as a son may rejoice in the respect 
and honor shown to a father. The degree 
will be announced at the Commencement to- 
morrow." 

After the resignation of his Professorship, 
some six years were passed by Dr. Wilson in 
quiet study, and in the friendly interchange 
of social intercourse, previous to the recur- 
rence of the malady which, upon its return, 
excited for the first time seriously, the appre- 
hensions of his family, and his numerous 
friends. 



126 



A MEMORIAL OF THE 



But knowing, even before the marked 
change had come, that he must feel very se- 
riously, and as it might prove injuriously, the 
entire cessation of his long and uninterrupted 
course of accustomed labor, I ventured, upon 
one occasion, very delicately, to suggest the 
idea of his permanent removal to Philadel- 
phia, the scene of his early childhood, the 
cherished home of all his earlier friends. 

How keenly he felt the tie which bound 
him to his native State, is evident from the 
fact, that although for nearly thirty years it 
had ceased to be his place of residence, yet, as 
a Presbyter of the Church, he had never 
severed his connection with the Diocese of 
Pennsylvania. He had been ordained to the 
Diaconate and to his Priestly office, in Phila- 
delphia, and to the Bishop of that Diocese his 
canonical obedience was due, down to the 
very moment in which his commission, with 
his life, were alike surrendered into the hands 
of God. 

This circumstance had its weight in making 



REV. BIRD WILSON, D.D., LL.D. 127 

the suggestion referred to. It was proposing 
a return to his old home, and it was kindly re- 
ceived, he well knowing that it was prompted 
by the most kindly of motives. 

But with a saddened expression, in the 
tone and manner, as of one who felt that the 
depths of his soul were stirred, he reminded 
me of the many fearful changes which twenty 
odd years had witnessed. The friends of 
youth, with but two or three exceptions, were 
all gone. He felt that such a return could 
not be otherwise than painful; for he should 
be reminded daily, and on every hand, that 
although in the city of his young affections, 
he should be there comparatively, but as a 
stranger among strangers. 

No one could resist the melting tenderness 
of feeling which marked that interview. No 
one could ever again seriously renew a pro- 
position only to rekindle so many saddening 
memories. 

In this connection may be very appropri- 
ately noticed the character of Dr. Wilson's 



128 



A MEMORIAL OF THE 



social relations, the thoughtful, tender care 
exercised by him in behalf of all who in any 
way were dependent upon his exertions. 

It must be borne in mind that his father 
was taken from him just as he had reached 
his twenty-second year, and had barely grad- 
uated as a member of the Bar. His father 
had been engaged in very extensive landed 
operations, which at one time promised to be 
of a highly remunerative character, but, re- 
sulting otherwise, he had left his family de- 
pendent. 

Here were three brothers and two sisters, 
almost, if not entirely, thrown upon the 
hands of Dr. "Wilson, whose wants were pro- 
vided for, mainly through his own unaided 
exertions. And, nothing daunted at the 
prospect before him, he seems to have de- 
voted himself to the great work of life as 
though perfectly untrammelled by any weight 
of domestic care. He succeeded, moreover, 
in what was the great end of his ambition, 
viz., in making adequate provision for those 



REV. BIRD WILSON, D.D., LL.D. 129 

who, in the Providence of God, had been 
entrusted to him. It was a weighty burden, 
but one which he had strength to bear both 
patiently and successfully. 

This generous, noble care of family was 
extended subsequently to others, and to some 
who were connected with him only by the 
bonds of a long and intimate friendship. 

Habits of prudent, careful living thus early 
made imperative by the circumstances in 
which he was placed, enabled him, in after- 
years, to acquire a very handsome compe- 
tency. Of this, a noble portion has, since his 
decease, been consecrated, by his heir, to God's 
glory, in the erection of a neat and beautiful 
Chapel to the Episcopal Hospital, at Philadel- 
phia, as a thank offering to God, and a memorial 
of him and of his young friend and son, in 
the Gospel, the Rev. Edward C. Babcock. A 
most befitting mode of hallowing the memory 
of so saintly a servant of God, and at the 
same time the source of instruction, of com- 
fort and spiritual consolation to the sons and 

12 



130 



A MEMORIAL OF THE 



daughters of sorrow, who are there provided 
with a refuge, and with more of the atten- 
tion and comforts of a home, when overtaken 
by sickness or prostrated upon the bed of an- 
guish. Upon the walls of the Chapel his 
name is recorded in a simple, but beautiful, 
inscription, and there, doubtless, his exalted 
virtues are remembered, while blessing God, 
" for all His servants who have departed this 
life in His faith and fear." 

Such an example of pure, disinterested, 
and unostentatious devotion as that set by 
Dr. Wilson, had its effect not only in endear- 
ing to him those who were the immediate re- 
cipients of his kindness, but to all who could 
appreciate aright what is elevated, noble, and 
unselfish in human character. It was an ex- 
ample honored and appreciated by man, and 
one signally owned and rewarded by God. 

In his own house he was distinguished by 
the same gentleness, the same refined and 
delicate regard to the feelings and wishes of 
others, which were so characteristic of him 



REV. BIRD WILSON, D.D., LL.D. 131 

elsewhere. He had nothing of that peculiar 
warmth and heartiness of manner which some 
are disposed to value at so high a rate, until 
taught by a saddening experience how often 
it is assumed to cover up a cold, selfish, and 
hollow heart. His affections betrayed them- 
selves in no such noisy outbursts, or rapturous 
gushings of feeling, but in those gentle, quiet, 
winning ways, so difficult to describe in words, 
but which the eye of true affection seldom 
reads amiss. It was a something which you 
felt drawing you to him, conveyed in a look, 
a mere word, the veriest trifle it may be, a 
something of which you would scarcely care 
to speak, and yet, the key to his affections, 
and the assurance to you, that you were one 
of the objects on which those affections rested. 

I have spoken of his disinclination to return 
to Philadelphia as a permanent residence. He 
continued, accordingly, to occupy a house in 
the immediate neighborhood of the Seminary, 
which he had purchased after his resignation 
of his office. He devoted himself to such 



132 



A MEMORIAL OF THE 



reading and study as inclination might prompt, 
as well as in receiving the visits of a large 
circle of friends. There seemed to be no 
waning of his interest in the books which had 
been his companions for years, nor in any- 
thing which pertained in any way to the wel- 
fare or advancement of the Church of his 
love. Save that he was released from the 
daily calls of duty upon him as a Professor, 
no one could discern the slightest change in 
the habits of his life. 

A person more strictly methodical in every- 
thing was probably never known. His hours, 
whether for rising or retiring, were almost as 
fixed and regular as the motions of the sun 
itself. 

Daily, at the close of his morning recita- 
tion, he could be seen preparing to start upon 
his habitual walk — a walk of about five miles, 
and usually in the same direction, if not over 
the same precise ground. On Sunday, and 
when the weather looked threatening, he could 
be seen pacing rapidly to and fro, from the ter- 



REV. BIRD WILSON, D.D., LL.D. 133 

race in front of the Seminary back to the 
fence which separated the yard in the rear of 
his house, a space of not more than a hundred 
feet. And here he devoted punctually the 
same amount of time which he would have 
given to his usual walk up the Island, or 
across the city in the direction of the East 
River. Here was one of the great secrets of 
his uniform good health, while it gave him the 
opportunity, as he was often heard to remark, 
of noticing the rapid strides of a great city, 
into what he had known once as almost ex- 
clusively an agricultural region. 

And here, the narrative portion of this 
volume may most fitly close. The details of 
an illness, harrowing and distressing to all 
who witnessed it, because robbing him of the 
constant and unfettered use and control of 
those high mental powers which give him 
such a charm in the days of health ; — those 
details belong to none save those whose prov- 
ince, nay, whose privilege it was to be with 

12* 



134 



A MEMORIAL OF THE 



and to minister unto him. He had his inter- 
vals of repose from imaginary trials, cares, 
and disquietudes, and occasional bright, lucid 
moments in which he seemed to be entirely 
conscious of his enfeebled bodily condition, 
and that the immediate past was all to him a 
blank. It was upon one of those occasions 
that he remarked to his devoted niece, that 
"in looking back upon his past life, he be- 
lieved that he had tried to be faithful to his 
duty, and in looking forward he had no 
fear. 55 

This, or something akin thereto, was the 
peaceful, hopeful result to which the review 
of life had brought him, and giving peace at 
the last, according to the blessed promise of 
that Word, upon which he built every hope 
for the future. It was saying more than 
would have been expected from one who was 
never disposed to exhibit to others his own 
internal, religious emotions. It was far more 
than was required to assure any whom he 



REV. BIRD WILSON, D.D., LL.D. 135 

should leave behind, that "to him to die was 
gain." But as an almost dying testimony, it 
only confirms the verdict of all who had ever 
known him, — that a more perfectly blame- 
less character and example they have never 
known. And the chief interest of the remark 
just quoted, arises from the fact, that it shows 
his own realization of what was going on in 
an aged and enfeebled frame; and that his 
eyes were turned toward the goal, to the end 
of the race, and upon the final recompense of 
the just. 

No one but with such a physical constitu- 
tion as his, strengthened by daily habits of 
vigorous exercise, and a most regular and ab- 
stinent course of life, could have resisted so 
long as did his, the onward march of death. 

One topic suggests itself in connection with 
this illness, which was merely hinted at in 
earlier pages of this volume, where allusion 
was made to the influences of Divine grace, 
combined with habits of strict self-discipline 



136 



A MEMORIAL OF THE 



in keeping under, and in due subordination, 
elements of character, which in some one or 
other of their varied forms, are found in all 
of human birth. 

Sickness has its own mysterious, but expres- 
sive ways, of revealing at once, the nobler, and 
what, if not held in check, must ever be re- 
garded as the weaker traits of human charac- 
ter. It was so in this case. Many might be 
disposed, and some unquestionably were ac- 
customed to look upon the subject of this 
Memorial as the very impersonation of meek- 
ness, as one disposed to submit to anything 
short of a positive indignity, rather than vin- 
dicate and maintain his own rights; or, as 
some would say, his own manhood. By all 
who regarded him as destitute of spirit, and 
that too of a very marked, decided type, his 
character was read amiss. 

An uncommonly high-toned spirit, coupled 
with inflexible firmness and decision, were 
qualities he was known to have possessed in 



REV. BIRD WILSON, D.D., LL.D. 137 

an eminent degree; as evidenced by the utter 
impossibility of moving him from aught sug- 
gested by reason, conscience, or a high sense 
of duty. 

Hastiness or impatience he had never been 
known to exhibit; not because there were not 
in his nature the elements which betray their 
presence in some such way; but because he 
was pre-eminently the subject of that Heav- 
enly wisdom " which is first pure, then peace- 
able, gentle, and easy to be entreated, full of 
mercy, and of good fruits." 

It was one of the signal proofs of the 
indwelling of that grace by which we are 
renewed, and become transformed, — whose 
most complete victory consists in that " cru- 
cifixion of the flesh, with its affections and 
lusts," which also attests that " being dead 
unto sin, we are alive unto God, through Jesus 
Christ our Lord." 

It had long been the expectation of the 
writer, and his hope, that when the end drew 



138 



A MEMORIAL OF THE 



near, he might be permitted to witness the 
departure of so pure a spirit, and to stand 
with those who wept around his grave, join- 
ing in the Church's august requiem, which 
speaks to us of the undying life of a soul, and 
the resurrection of the body. And although 
most kindly and specially summoned, yet the 
melancholy privilege was denied him by God, 
who was about to visit his own household 
wdth bereavement, in calling hence a dear son. 

Two days before Dr. Wilson s decease he 
appeared to be entirely conscious, and fastened 
upon his niece one of those inexpressibly af- 
fectionate looks which were so peculiarly his 
own, while his countenance brightened with 
a sweet and placid smile; but the power of 
utterance was gone. 

Quietly and calmly, so tranquilly that the 
last instant of respiration could scarcely be 
detected, "he fell asleep," on Thursday the 
14th of April, 1859, aged 83 years. 

His departure antedated a little that bright, 



REV. BIRD WILSON, D.D., LL.D. 139 



comforting Festival in the Church's annual 
round, which celebrates the Eesurrection of 
our Lord, the pledge and earnest of our own; 
of which the opening grave ever reminds us, 
as the great balm for human sorrow, in all its 
varied forms. 

As an appropriate and deserved mark of 
respect, the daily exercises of the Seminary 
were suspended until after the burial; the 
usual morning and evening services in the 
Chapel alone excepted. 

Becoming notice of the event, and of its 
venerated subject, was taken also by the Fac- 
ulty and Students, in their appropriate meet- 
ings, where words of something more than 
mere idle ceremony fell from the lips of 
deeply attached colleagues, of many happy 
years. 

On the following Sunday afternoon the 
body was borne to St. Peter's Church, accom- 
panied by the Faculty and Students, a large 
number of the Clergy of the city, and other 
friends of the departed. 



140 



A MEMORIAL OF THE 



The appointed services for the church hav- 
ing been concluded, the body remained before 
the altar, at which he had so often knelt, 
until the following day, when it was removed 
to Philadelphia, under the tender and affec- 
tionate oversight of Professors Turner and 
Johnson, the Rev. Dr. Beach, and Mr. Francis 
H. Babcock. 

Mr. Babcock, now also deceased , and his 
most estimable family, had for years been 
numbered among the most intimate and be- 
loved friends of Dr. Wilson; ever ready, 
whether in sickness or in health, by the most 
untiring and delicate attentions, to attest the 
depth of their affection. Upon Mr. Babcock, 
who had been throughout the whole of this 
dark period of sorrow, all that a noble heart 
could prompt, devolved, as was most fitting, 
all the arrangements in New York prepara- 
tory to the funeral. And as one of the pecu- 
liar friends of the surviving, he was also 
selected to accompany the bereaved to the 
completion of their sad errand. 



REV. BIRD WILSON, D.D., LL.D. 141 

The last earthly resting-place of this de- 
voted servant of God — next to the grave — 
was before the altar of Christ Church, that 
venerable structure, around which so many 
sacred associations cluster, and where Dr. 
Wilson himself had received his commission 
to break the bread of eternal life. 

He was buried, with the appropriate ser- 
vices, in the ground belonging to Christ 
Church, at the corner of Arch and Fifth 
Streets; and "with him is sundered one of the 
last and brightest ties that bound this genera- 
tion to that which saw the first foundation 
laid of our Church in America."* 

" The Fathers are in dust, yet live to God, 

So says the Truth — as if the motionless clay 
Still held the seeds of Life beneath the sod, 

Smouldering and struggling till the judgment day. 
And hence we learn with reverence to esteem 

Of these frail houses, tho' the grave confines ; 
Sophist may urge his cunning tests, and deem 

That they are earth — but they are heavenly shrines." 



* " The Church Journal." 
13 



142 



A MEMORIAL OF THE 



The goal has been reached, and he is now 
one of that bright cloud of witnesses by whom 
we are encompassed, — by whose successes we 
are encouraged; emulating their virtues, and 
ever remembering that we are still one with 
them; following Christ, as they also have fol- 
lowed Him, that we may be indeed one with 
them in the fellowship of Angels, and Arch- 
angels, of God, and His Christ, of the Church 
triumphant in heaven. 

Such is the Communion of all the saints; a 
truth, than which in its bearings upon us 
amid scenes of vicissitude and change, there 
are but few capable of ministering equal com- 
fort. 

The body, aye, the very form on which we 
doated so fondly, is indeed beyond our reach, 
and a melancholy process is going on in the 
dark and silent chamber where it has been 
laid to rest. The eye can no longer delight 
itself with its loved proportions; the ear can 
no longer drink in the winning accents of the 



REV. BIRD WILSON, D.D., LL.D. 143 

familiar voice. And yet, in spirit, in heart, 
in hope, in the blessed Communion of the 
Church, we are all one. A union which is the 
foretaste of one more intimate, more endear- 
ing still, over which sorrow, change, and 
death can have no power. We have a com- 
mon Saviour, — we have a common hope; the 
hope of that blessedness, upon a portion of 
which they have already entered, and do now 
enjoy. 

We have, with Him, a common mark, 
the mark "whereby Christian men are dis- 
cerned from others;" it is the mark of our 
discipleship. 

Even the tender, watchful shepherd of this 
world has his appropriate mark, whereby to 
distinguish the sheep and lambs of his own 
flock; and the Heavenly Shepherd has His 
also. The solemn moment which saw that 
mark impressed upon the adult or infant 
brow, witnessed also the fulfillment of the 
Apostle's declaration. Then it was that we 



144 



A MEMORIAL OF THE 



were brought "unto Mount Zion, and unto 
the city of the living God, to an innumerable 
company of Angels, to the general assembly 
and Church of the first born which are writ- 
ten in Heaven, and to God the Judge of all, 
and to the spirits of just men made perfect." 

From that hour we were put in Communion 
with the Church visible on earth, and with 
that great multitude, whom the Apostle beheld 
in vision, "standing on Mount Zion with the 
Lamb of God, having the Father's name writ- 
ten on their foreheads, who cry with a loud 
voice, saying, Salvation to our God who sitteth 
upon the Throne, and unto the Lamb/' 

Yes! there is life in death, — life even in 
the grave, where corruption and the worm 
must do their strange, their melancholy work. 
Death may dismantle the form which has 
been consecrated to God, and crucified to the 
world; in which the warfare of life has been 
finished, and which, though scarred and 
wounded in the conflict, is still the temple of 



KEV. BIRD WILSON, D.D., LL.D. 145 

the Holy Ghost. And therefore it is, that 
our Spiritual mother, who took us in her arms 
in Holy Baptism, will also gently lay our 
bodies down to the sleep of dust; and while 
addressing to sorrowing attendants around 
the open grave, the consolations which attend 
the passage hence of a soul "in the commu- 
nion of the Catholic Church, in the confidence 
of a certain faith, in the comfort of a reason- 
able, religious, and holy hope;" her language 
will be the language of her Lord, "thy brother 
shall rise again." 

And when, with all who have gone before, 
we shall have fully tasted our portion of the 
joys and sorrows which come ever mingled 
in our earthly cup, may the eye of faith 
brighten, as the eye of sense shall fail, with 
the reflected glories of that bright morning 
yet to dawn, the glorious morning of our 
Resurrection! 

And now, reverently laying this humble 
chaplet upon the sacred tomb of one, beloved 

18* 



146 



A MEMORIAL OF THE 



on earth, now owned of God in Paradise; be 
it the daily prayer of him who writes, and of 
him who may be tempted to read this imper- 
fect sketch, that we all "may have grace so 
to follow his good example, that, with him, 
we may be partakers of God's heavenly king- 
dom." 

Life thus spent, shall lead to that unfailing 
rest which God has reserved in store for every 
redeemed, accepted child, — and in death, lift- 
ing his eyes above the pains of dissolution, 
and the temporary dishonors of the grave, he 
shall see in it but the peaceful transit of a 
soul to its eternal home in heaven. 

Archbishop Leighton has said, with his 
wonted beauty, that " there is a certain com- 
pany of small stars in the firmament, which, 
though they cannot be each one severally 
seen, yet being many, their united light 
makes a conspicuous brightness in the heaven, 
which is called the milky-way; so, though the 
shining of every private Christian is not so 



REV. BIRD WILSON, D.D., LL.D. 147 

much severally remarkable, yet the concourse 
and meeting of their light together, will make 
a bright path of holiness shine in the Church." 

We, however, have been engaged in follow- 
ing the brighter pathway of one of those more 
glorious orbs, which has been removed from 
our earthly firmament, only to shine as a 
star, forever and ever in Heaven. 

"If in the flower such beauty lies, 
Which blooms at morn, at evening dies, 
And in each form of life around 
Mysterious wisdom hides profound; 
What shall our heav'nly bodies be 
When cloth'd with immortality ?" 

"If in Thy guiding hand above 
The glorious hosts are seen to move, 
And all creation here below 
Thy daily ordering seems to know ; 
How much more Thine unseen control 
Must be around the human soul, 
Prepar'd beyond the starry skies, 
To put on endless destinies !" 

"The Cathedral." 



APPENDIX. 



Substance of remarks made to the Senior Class, while 
examining the Calvinistic and Arminian Controversy 
on the course of St. Paul's reasoning in the first 
eleven chapters of the Epistle to the Romans; after 
they had recited the first part of " Bishop White's 
Comparative Yiews." 

There are two points examined by the Bishop, on 
which it will be useful to offer some additional remarks. 
(I.) That stated in page 6T, relative to the repeated 
application by the Apostle, from time to time, of his 
reasoning to what is conceived to be his main subject : — 
and (II.) the supposed objection stated and answered in 
pages 100 to 105. 

(I.) The first of these subjects cannot be well under- 
stood without attentively following the course, and trac- 
ing the connection of the Apostle's remarks throughout 
the whole of the first eleven chapters. They are so 
closely connected together, and so dependent on each 
other, that the true meaning of the several parts, if 

(149) 



150 



APPENDIX. 



considered separately, cannot clearly appear, until their 
application to the main subject is traced. My object 
then is of a general character, and will not render 
it necessary to enter upon an examination of the differ- 
ences of opinion on the exact interpretation of the 
several particular arguments. I intend to show that 
the Apostle himself states his subject explicitly, and 
that all his subsequent reasoning and principles bear 
upon that alone; which subject is not the predestination 
and election of individuals to eternal life, according to 
either the Arminian or Calvinistic theory, (on which not 
a word is directly or indirectly spoken in the Epistle,) 
but the character of the dispensations under which God 
determined to place mankind in this life, whereby all 
men would be enabled to obtain that blessing, if they 
availed themselves of the means provided for them. 

As you have already, in your recitations with Dr. 
Turner, in the department of the criticism and interpre- 
tation of Scripture, minutely examined the questions 
arising upon the several parts of these chapters, and 
have now recited the first part of Bishop White's Com- 
parative Views, it will be easy for you to follow me in 
the general remarks proposed to be made, and to per- 
ceive their force and bearing on the alleged subject. In 
them, I do not expect that any particulars will occur 
which will strike you as novel in principle ; as I believe 
there are none which may not be maintained by the au- 



APPENDIX. 



151 



thority of respectable commentators. If there be any 
novelty, it must be only in the representation of the 
general design and plan of the Apostle's reasoning, — 
the close connection of its different parts with each 
other, — and the manner in which each is applied to sup- 
port the asserted and declared purpose of the writer. 

The Apostle, after his introduction, extending to the 
15th verse, expressive of his regard for the Roman 
Christians, and a desire to provide for their instruction 
in the Gospel, proposes his subject in the 16th verse; 
the language of which clearly refers to what is well 
known and admitted to have been the subject of a warm 
and interesting controversy at the time, and to which 
the whole of the subsequent reasoning will appear to be 
applicable. The proposition contained in the verse 
embraces three particulars, all of which were opposed 
to the opinions and prejudiced expectations of the 
Jewish converts, viz., (1,) that the Gospel only, without 
the Law, which they sought to impose on the Gentiles, 
and to observe themselves as necessary to salvation, 
was the powerful means provided by God for salvation ; 
(2,) to every beliver ; (3,) and to the Gentile , equally 
with the Jew. 

The first proof of the truth of this proposition is of 
considerable length, but clearly connected, extending to 
the 30th verse of the 3d Chapter. It establishes these 
principles, (1,) that neither the Jew nor the Gentile 



152 



APPENDIX. 



could look for acceptance with God on account of their 
obedience to the law of nature or the Mosaic Law, un- 
der which they were respectively placed, and therefore 
equally stood in need of some new method of obtaining 
His favor,— (Oh. i., v. 18,— Ch. iii., v. 20;) (2,) that 
the Gospel alone had provided that new method, — (Ch. 
iii., vs. 21-28 ;) and (3,) that it was suitable to the char- 
acter of the Deity, and to His relation to His creatures, 
that the benefit of it should be equally extended to the 
Gentile as to the Jew, — (Ch. iii., vs. 29, 30.) 

To complete this proof, the Apostle, after stating in 
Ch. i., v. 18, that "the wrath of God is revealed from 
heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of 
men," proceeds to show that all mankind were objects of 
that wrath, instead of being entitled to look for the 
Divine favor. For this purpose he first views the moral 
character and condition of the Gentile nations, which is 
contained in the remainder of Ch. i. The description of 
it is indeed given in dark and gloomy colors, and fully 
shows that these nations were justly liable to God's con- 
demnation; because, "they knowing the judgment of 
God, that they who do such things as were laid to their 
charge, were worthy of death," "not only did the same, 
but had pleasure in them that do them," — (v. 32.) 

The Jews would readily admit the justice of the 
condemnation of the Gentiles; but had a high opinion 
of their own condition before God, and of their security 



APPENDIX. 



153 



from danger in consequence of the peculiar privileges 
bestowed upon them, as being the descendants of Abra- 
ham, and heirs of the promises to him, — and being 
brought by circumcision into covenant with God as His 
peculiar people, — and having received through Moses 
the sacred oracles containing His revealed will. But 
the Apostle next turns his attention to their state and 
character; and shows them that when they condemned 
the Gentiles, (as they were very ready to do, even to an 
uncharitable extent,) they indeed condemned themselves, 
inasmuch as they did the same things. And he pro- 
ceeds to convict them by the evidence of clear facts and 
by the declarations of their own Scriptures, that they 
were sinful and disobedient likewise, and equally liable 
to the wrath of God, and were equally destitute of any 
rightful claim to blessings which were promised only to 
obedience. This discussion continues from Ch. ii., v. 
1, to Ch. iii., v. 19. In the course of it, in order to 
convince the Jews that their reliance on their peculiar 
privileges as God's covenanted people, notwithstanding 
their sinfulness, was wholly unwarranted and unreasona- 
ble, he introduces principles by which the judgment of 
God would be regulated in relation to both Jew and 
Gentile; that "in the day of wrath and revelation of 
His righteous judgment," He " will render to every man 
according to his deeds," — bestowing "eternal life" on 

14 



154 



APPENDIX. 



all who seek it by " patient continuance in well-doing," — . 
but inflicting "indignation and wrath on those who obey 
not the truth, but obey unrighteousness, whether they 
be Jews or Gentiles ; ?? "for there is no respect of persons 
with Him/ 7 — (vs. 5 to 16.) 

I state the Apostle to lay down in this passage a 
principle, according to which God will give judgment, 
and not to intend that when this principle was applied 
there were any of either class of men who could escape 
the punishment, and obtain the reward, because they 
rendered the obedience required. This fact was not 
pertinent to his object, and indeed would be inconsistent 
with the obvious design of his remarks on this first 
proof which we are considering. For he designs to 
establish that all are disobedient, and sinful, and are 
convicted by the Law, as sinners, and liable to punish- 
ment; and therefore, equally, whether Jew or Gentile, 
stand in need of some new method of obtaining the 
Divine favor and blessing; inasmuch as disobedient sin- 
ners can obviously have no claim to the benefit of obe- 
dience. With a similar view, the remarks on circum- 
cision are introduced in the close of the 2d Ch., vs. 25 
to*29. In that covenanting rite the Jews felt great 
confidence, as securing to them the favor of God. But 
the Apostle teaches them, that though "circumcision 
would profit them, if they kept the law, yet if they were 



APPENDIX. 



155 



breakers of the law, their circumcision is made uncir- 
cumcision," — (add vs. 28 and 29.) By these principles, 
the charge of the Apostle against the Jews that they, 
as well as the Gentiles, were sinful, and violators of the 
law, and of their own peculiar covenant with God, was 
strongly maintained; and their own partial expecta- 
tions, of favor were shown to be groundless and unwar- 
rantable. 

These remarks on the condition and character of the 
Gentiles and Jews respectively, lead to the general con- 
clusion contained in Ch. iii., vs. 19, 20, that "all the 
world are guilty before God ; and therefore by the deeds 
of the law there shall no flesh be justified in His sight; 
for by the law is the knowledge of sin." All, on being 
compared with its precepts, are convicted of being sin- 
ners ; that they cannot therefore have any claim to the 
blessings promised to obedience; and are all equally in 
need of some other method of obtaining God's favor. 

The Apostle then, in vs. 21 to 28 inclusive, describes 
the method of justification proposed, and offered to all 
by the Gospel, viz., "by the faith of Jesus Christ unto 
all and upon all that believe ; for there is no difference; 
for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God ; 
being justified freely by His grace, through the redemp- 
tion that is in Christ Jesus, whom God hath set forth 
to be a propitiation, through faith in His blood, — that 



156 



APPENDIX. 



God might be just, and yet the justifier of him which 
believeth in Jesus," — by which method, " boasting," on 
the part of man, "is wholly excluded;" and "a man is 
justified by faith ('and not by ') without the deeds of the 
law." 

The Apostle then, in vs. 29 and 30, turns the atten- 
tion to the remaining particulars stated in his first proof, 
viz., that it was suitable to the character of the Deity 
and His relation to His creatures, that the benefit of 
this new method should be equally extended to the 
Gentile as to the Jew, — for which he offers the con- 
clusive reason,— that as God is the God of both these 
classes of men, not of the Jew only; and both classes 
have equal need of this benefit, He will extend it to 
both, and will justify both in the same manner, — "see- 
ing it is one God, which shall justify the circumcision 
by faith, and uncircumcision through faith." 

(II.) The second proof given in support of the Apos- 
tle's proposition contained in Ch. i., v. 1 7, is presented in 
Ch. iii., v. 31, and Ch. iv. throughout. It may indeed 
be considered as embracing two distinct proofs ; one of 
them connected with the remarks on circumcision, and 
the other with those on the law. But, as both relate to 
the erroneous opinions of the Jews on those subjects, 
which the Apostle here supposes to be urged by a 
Jewish objector against the doctrine of justification 



APPENDIX. 



157 



which had been just explained, they may be more clearly 
examined together. The general objection supposed to 
be urged is, that the doctrine of the Apostle is contrary 
to the promises and privileges made to and conferred 
upon their nation by God in the covenant of circum- 
cision and the Mosaic law; and we well know from 
historical evidence that the Jewish converts, in the con- 
troversy then existing, did insist that circumcision and 
the law were necessary means of justification. The de- 
sign of the Apostle is to answer the objection, and to 
show that his doctrine is supported by their own Scrip- 
tures, instead of being contrary to them. 

This appears to me to be the objection referred to by 
the Apostle in Ch. iii., v. 31, and which he supposed 
might perhaps be suggested by an adversary. On this 
interpretation of the verse, it is naturally connected with 
and leads to the discussion contained in Ch. iv. A very 
common interpretation of it is indeed that the objection 
supposed by the Apostle is, that the law — meaning the 
moral law — is made useless, or that obligation to obey 
it is destroyed, by the doctrine of justification by faith ; 
and that the Apostle on the other hand insists that, so 
far from this, the obligation and motives to obedience 
are confirmed and made stronger by the Gospel : — which 
subject, however, is supposed not to be explained here, 
but to be resumed in Ch. vi. 

14* 



158 



APPENDIX. 



The verse, on this interpretation, contains an import- 
ant truth ; and its language, if taken alone and disjoined 
from the context, might perhaps allow the interpreta- 
tion ; and the same truth is maintained in Ch. vi. But 
it does not appear to me to be the Apostle's meaning 
in this passage. The interpretation supposes him to 
pass over an important objection without answer, (ex- 
cept a general denial, without explanation,) and with- 
out any apparent motive for deferring it, and to proceed 
to a distinct subject. No designed connection can be 
shown between this verse and Ch. vi., which is very 
clearly connected with, and naturally introduced by 
what immediately precedes it. On the interpretation 
preferred, the Apostle continues (as will be seen) a con- 
nected and uninterrupted course of reasoning. For his 
meaning then, in reply to the objection as before stated, 
is, that so far from making the law void, he establishes 
or maintains it: for his doctrines of justification by 
faith, and of the equal rights of the Gentiles to Gospel 
blessings, are the same which are contained in the law 
itself, taken in a large sense, (as it often is,) as em- 
bracing their whole dispensation. And the interpreta- 
tion of the verse here adopted is not only supported 
best by the context, but also agrees with the opinions of 
able commentators, both ancient and modern. I give 
as a specimen, the remarks of Theodoret on the verse : 



APPENDIX. 



159 



" For from the beginning, both the law and the prophets 
divinely revealed the doctrines concerning faith : main- 
taining faith therefore, we confirm the law. r 

"Afterward he gives proof of these things. And 
though he was able to produce very many testimonies of 
the prophets, he goes to the very root of the Jews, aind 
shows that the patriarch Abraham obtained the right- 
eousness which is by faith." (See Dr. Turner's note, 
and Prof. Stewart's also.) 

But whatever interpretation of this verse may be pre- 
ferred, it is clear that in the 4th Ch. the Apostle does 
proceed to prove that his doctrines agree with those 
contained in their law. The course of reasoning ap- 
pears to be this. In Ch. in., v. 31, the objection was 
supposed to be urged that his doctrines were (as before 
stated) opposed to the law and the promises to their 
nation ; but the Apostle replied generally, that so far 
from making void the law, he established it. In answer, 
the objector refers to the case of Abraham, who, he 
asserts, was justified by works; particularly alluding to 
the precept of circumcision, and "had therefore whereof 
to glory." But the Apostle denies this, and proves 
from the account given in the Scriptures, that Abraham 
himself was justified by "faith," "which was counted to 
him for righteousness," — (vs. 3 to 5.) This was before 
the law. The case of David under the law is then 



160 



APPENDIX. 



added ; who expected justification by obtaining forgive- 
ness of sins, and their not being imputed to him, and 
not by establishing his obedience and innocence, — (vs. 
6-8.) Thus, the Scriptures of the Old Testament prove 
that this was God's method of justification during the 
patriarchal and Mosaic dispensations, as well as by the 
Gospel. And this doctrine is clearly laid down by a 
very eminent contemporary writer, — Clement, of Rome. 
So far as to justification by faith. 

In the following verses, (9th to 12th,) the Apostle 
directs his remarks to the proof of the other part of the 
proposition in Ch. i., v. IT, viz., that the same blessing 
was extended to the Gentile, though uncircumcised. 
The proof is drawn from the same case of Abraham. 
It is asked, " Cometh this blessing" (of justification by 
faith) "upon the circumcision only, or upon the uncir- 
cumcision also ?" And it is then shown from the cir- 
cumstances of the transaction with Abraham, that it was 
designed for both,— that Abraham's faith "was reckoned 
to him for righteousness, while he was in uncircumcision, 
and he afterward received the sign of circumcision, a 
seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had, yet 
being uncircumcised, that he might be the Father of all 
them that believe, though they be not circumcised,-— 
that righteousness might be imputed to them also." 
And as to the circumcision, the Apostle in verse 12 de~ 



APPENDIX. 



161 



clares that "the blessing did not belong to those who 
were circumcised, unless they also followed the steps of 
Abraham's faith." (Dr. McKnight's remarks in preface 
to the Chapter may perhaps be adverted to.) 

The Jews also rested upon the law, as entitling them 
to peculiar claims. This the Apostle next examines in 
vs. 13 to 17 inclusive. The argument on this point is 
very similar to one contained more at large in the Epis- 
tle to the Galatians, — Ch. iii., vs. 6-18, — which, if com- 
pared with this, will throw light upon it. The tenor of 
the argument is, that the blessing of Abraham and his 
seed was bj promise, that it was not through the law, 
but through the righteousness of faith, — that if they 
which are under the law are the heirs of the blessing, 
faith is made void, and the promise made of none effect; 
for the law could not bestow the blessing, inasmuch as 
"it worketh wrath, for where no law is, there is no 
transgression." It convicts all as sinners, and subjects 
them to wrath ; that therefore the blessing is of faith, 
that it might be by grace, to the end the promise might 
be sure to all the seed, — not to that only which is of 
the law, (the Jews,) but to that also which is of the 
faith of Abraham, (his spiritual seed, whether Jews or 
Gentiles,) for that Abraham is the father ofvs all, — 
the Gentiles being expressly comprehended in the prom- 
ise to Abraham, since God declared to him, "I have 



162 



APPENDIX. 



made thee a father of many nations." His reasoning 
here likewise maintains the whole proposition in Ch. i., 
v. 17, showing from the Old Testament the truth of the 
doctrine of justification by faith, and the equal claim to 
the blessing in both Jew and Gentile. He then de- 
scribes (vs. 18-25) the excellence and firmness of Abra- 
ham's faith, though severely tried, and which was there- 
fore imputed to him for righteousness ; and he adds, for 
the instruction and comfort of all converts, that "it was 
not written for his sake alone ; but that it was imputed 
to him for us also," (that is, according to the preceding 
proof, to us Christians, whether Gentiles or Jews,) 
"to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on Him 
that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead ; who was 
delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our 
justification." 

In the four chapters which have been now reviewed, 
though the Apostle designs to establish and explain the 
doctrine of justification by faith, yet he does not ex- 
amine it as a distinct subject, but in connection with 
the equal rights of the Gentiles, stated along with it in 
Ch. i., v. IT, which was likewise disputed, and which he 
was solicitous to establish.* 

Chapter v., vs. 1-11, contains the third proof of the 



* See Whitby in loc. 



APPENDIX. 



163 



proposition in the verse just referred to. He was natu- 
rally led to describe the blessings enjoyed by those who 
truly believed, and were justified in the manner stated at 
the close of the preceding chapter. These would be im- 
portant in themselves, for whatever purpose they were 
introduced. But they are here stated as the ground of 
another proof of the truth of the said proposition, 
drawn from facts; that the Deity Himself had given 
His attestation, that He had received into a state of 
reconciliation, by faith only, all believers, whether 
Gentiles or Jews, by bestowing on them indiscrimi- 
nately, the blessings of the Gospel; particularly the 
extraordinary gifts of the Spirit, and His ordinary 
influences, producing in them the Christian graces. 
" Therefore," he says, " being justified by faith, we' 7 (re- 
ferring to the collective body mentioned at the close of 
the 4th Chapter, comprehending, as is evident, Gentiles 
as well as Jews, i.e. all who believe as Abraham did) 
"have peace with God, through our Lord Jesus Christ; 
by whom also we have access by faith, into this grace 
wherein we stand, and rejoice in the hope of the glory 
of God." In the following verses he enumerates their 
Christian graces, and the gift of the Holy Ghost, 
whereby the love of God was shed abroad in their 
hearts. These were proofs that they actually received 
and improved the Gospel benefits. It is not necessary 



164 



APPENDIX. 



to suppose, with Mr. Locke, that the Apostle speaks in 
this passage of the Gentile Christians alone, including 
himself with them as being their peculiar Apostle, for 
the proof from the indiscriminate bestowal of the 
gifts and graces of the Spirit in Gentile as well as 
Jew, is equally strong to establish that God had mani- 
fested that He received both to the enjoyment of the 
benefits of the Gospel, and by faith only. This infer- 
ence, he knew from the Scripture history, was drawn in 
this manner, and from the same facts, both by the 
Apostles, and the body of assembled Christians, at the 
time of the first conversion of the Gentiles. (See 
McKnight in loc.) 

Thus when Peter was sent to Cornelius, the pouring 
out of the gift of the Holy Ghost upon the Centurion 
and his assembled friends, was regarded by the Apostle 
as an evidence from God that they ought to be baptized, 
and thus admitted as Gentiles to the benefits of the 
Gospel,— (Acts, x., vs. 44-48.) When called to account 
at Jerusalem for his conduct in that case, he justified 
himself by relating the vision to Cornelius, and the fact 
that as he himself began to speak, "the Holy Ghost fell 
on them," (viz., Cornelius and his house,) "as on us at 
the beginning." "Forasmuch then as God gave them 
the like gift as He did unto us who believed in the 
Lord Jesus Christ, what was I, that I should withstand 



APPENDIX. 



165 



God ?" The assembled brethren were immediately sat- 
isfied, and drew the same conclusion as the Apostle 
had, "then hath God also to the Gentiles, granted re- 
pentance unto life," — (Acts, xi., vs. 15-18.) And like- 
wise at the Council of Jerusalem, the same Apostle 
addressed them thus: "Ye know that God made choice 
among us, that the Gentiles," etc. — (Acts, xv., vs. T— 11.) 

The remainder of this 5th Chapter (vs. 12 to end) 
contains another proof of the Apostle's doctrine, drawn 
from the reason and nature of the case, and the charac- 
ter of the Deity. The general purport of it is, that as 
all men, Gentile as well as Jew, had suffered by the fall 
of Adam, whereby sin and death had been entailed on 
all, it was much rather reasonable and just, and more 
consistent with the Divine attributes, that all should be 
benefited by the death of Christ ; by obtaining justifica- 
tion through His blood, and sanctification by the gift of 
His Spirit. The passage has been particularly, and at 
some length, examined in the course of the recitations; 
and it is not designed now to enlarge upon it. That 
there are difficulties in determining the exact interpre- 
tation of several of its clauses, is generally admitted. 
But there appears to be little in clearly ascertaining its 
general import, or the manner and force with which it 
is applied to support the Apostle's doctrine. It has 
been much used in the controversies respecting the full 

15 



166 



APPENDIX. 



consequences to mankind from Adam's sin ; some con- 
tending that temporal death alone is here mentioned; 
others that this death and the corruption of man's na- 
ture are combined; and others add, condemnation to 
eternal death. My own persuasion is, that the first two 
are stated in the passage, but that nothing in it proves 
the last, though it may be shown from other parts of 
Scripture, that eternal death was a part of the penalty 
denounced upon sin, and must have been endured by 
every sinner, supposing the means for his redemption 
were not provided : (a supposition, however, forbidden 
by the character of God, which opposes a belief that He 
would have allowed the human race to be continued, if 
inevitably liable, without personal fault, to such a fate, 
destitute of any means of relief from it.) 

But it seems well deserving of observation, that it was 
unnecessary for the Apostle to give a complete and 
exact detail of all the consequences of the fall. His 
argument is equally clear and forcible, whichever of the 
above interpretations is adopted. It will still urge the 
truth that it is reasonable that as all had thus suffered 
the consequences of sin (whatever those sufferings may 
be) without personal fault, but through Adam's fall, 
that the remedy provided for relief from those sufferings 
should be equally extensive; and the means actually 
offered in the Gospel do place it in the power of all who 



APPENDIX. 



16T 



will employ them, to obtain that relief; and also to 
secure the promised blessings thereby restored to them ; 
after they had been forfeited and lost. 

The 5th Chapter appears to me to conclude the reas- 
oning of the Apostle directly in support of the truth 
contained in Ch. i., v. IT, though it is repeatedly alluded 
to in the subsequent parts of the Epistle, and the 
points more immediately discussed are closely connected 
with it. 

The 6th Chapter is employed in defending the doc- 
trine of salvation by grace through faith from an ob- 
jection, — that it destroyed or diminished the restraints 
from sin, and the obligations to holiness; which the 
Apostle denies and disproves. This was before alluded 
to in connection with the remarks in Ch. iii., v. 31. It 
is thought unnecessary to make here any further obser- 
vations on it, inasmuch as I am not aware that there is 
any difference of opinion on the design of the chapter, 
between the parties to the controversy which we are 
examining. 

Then in Chapter vii., vs. 1-6, the Apostle proceeds to 
show that the Mosaic law, so far from being necessary 
to be observed by the Gentiles, had expired, and ceased 
to be obligatory even upon the Jews. He compares 
the relation of the Jews to their law to a marriage con- 
tract, which is annulled by the death of either of the 



168 



APPENDIX. 



parties: and they, " having become dead to the law by 
the body of Christ," (or delivered from the law, that 
being dead wherein they were held,) "should be married 
to another, even to Him who is raised from the dead, 
that they should bring forth fruit unto God." Thus 
the Jews, as well as the Gentiles, had nothing to look to 
for justification, except the Gospel only. (Compare 
Gal. ii., vs. 19, 20 ; 2 Cor. xi., v. 2.) 

Note.— Such is the elaborate Essay referred to in the body of 
this work, "On the Design and Argument of the Epistle to the 
Romans." I have before me, in the author's handwriting, a 
very material condensation of the above. But it appeared pref- 
erable, especially for those who have never studied the outline 
of the argument of St. Paul, that the Essay should be given in 
its complete form, 



APPENDIX. 



169 



SERMON. 

"ON the motives to perseverance, notwithstand- 
ing SUFFERINGS FOR RELIGION." 

"Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trib- 
ulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or naked- 
ness, or peril, or sword ? (As it is written, for Thy sake 
were we killed all the day long ; we were accounted as 
sheep for the slaughter.) Nay, in all these things we are 
more than conquerors, through Him that loved us." — 
Romans, viii. 35-37. 

There are few passages of Scripture which exceed or 
equal that of which our text is part, in fervor, strength, 
and impressive eloquence. To ascertain clearly the 
meaning of St. Paul, in the verses just read, and to per- 
ceive their full force and beauty, it is necessary to ex- 
amine the connection in which they stand with the pre- 
ceding parts of the chapter. 

The verse to which, as I believe, they have a direct 
relation, stands at a considerable distance from them. 
But this circumstance will excite no surprise, nor sug- 
gest any objection in the minds of those acquainted with 
the peculiar character of this Apostle's writings. 

15* 



170 



APPENDIX, 



To them it is well known that after introducing a sub- 
ject to the notice of those whom he addresses, he fre- 
quently digresses from it immediately for the purpose 
of explaining some point related to, and illustrating or 
proving it, and after a digression of considerable length 
returns to the subject which he had before brought into 
view, without distinctly marking, in either case, the 
transition. 

In the passage which we are now to consider, the con- 
nection may, it is believed, be more clearly shown than 
in many others to which that remark applies. 

To point out that connection, to trace and illustrate 
the series of the Apostle's remarks, leading him to the 
animated address to the Roman Christians contained in 
our text, to fix thus its true meaning and to draw some 
useful inferences from the whole, is my present design. 

The Christians, in the early ages of the Church, were 
exposed to great dangers and sufferings in consequence 
of embracing the Gospel. It was reasonably to be ap- 
prehended that the severity of their afflictions might, 
through the infirmity of nature, impel them to abandon 
the religion which they experienced to be productive of 
effects so distressing. 

Those effects were also apparently very inconsistent 
with the representations of the design and tendency of 
that religion, to bestow the highest blessings upon such 
as embraced it. To defend Christianity from an objec- 



APPENDIX. 



171 



tion which might hence be urged against it, and also to 
arm Christians against the hazard of apostacy from their 
holy faith, were important objects in the view of the 
Apostle, both in this and in several others of his Epis- 
tles. He therefore introduces, in the 17th verse of this 
chapter, the subject of the afflictions which they so 
generally endured. It has been justly remarked that 
he advances prudently to the harsh subject, for that he 
does not mention it till he had raised their thoughts to 
the highest object of joy and pleasure ; the happiness 
and glory of a joint inheritance with the ever-blessed 
Son of God.* 

We may add, further, that he also represents their 
submitting to the sufferings appointed by God as inti- 
mately united with their acquisition of that inheritance 
for which they are necessary means. 

"We are the children of God," says the Apostle, 
"and if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint 
heirs with Christ ; if so be that we suffer with Htm, 
that we may be glorified together." 

Having thus introduced the disagreeable subject in a 
manner benevolently designed to avoid giving a shock to 
the feelings of those whom he addressed, naturally and 
strongly averse from the endurance of afflictions, the 
Apostle proceeds to set forth in order the important 



* See Taylor in Macknight in loc. 



172 



APPENDIX. 



blessings bestowed by the Gospel, supplying them with 
support and consolation, and even joy, under the severest 
sufferings, and presenting the most powerful and per- 
suasive motives for adhering, in defiance of those suffer- 
ings, to the Holy religion which they had embraced. 

(I.) He directs their view to the great reward which 
that religion set before them, to be bestowed on those 
who faithfully received and adhered to it. "I reckon," 
says he, "that the sufferings of this present time are not 
worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be 
revealed in us."* And the more deeply to impress their 
minds with a sense of its high importance, and of the 
reasonableness of confidence in its being bestowed, he 
represents it as the object of earnest and general expec- 
tation and desire ; and that the hope of it was justly 
excited and supported by the consideration of the man- 
ner in which they had become subject to the vanities and 
miseries of their present state. 

For, in the first of these points, he declares that "the 
earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the man- 
ifestation of the sons of God."f And that "we know 
that the whole creation groaneth and travailleth in pain 
together until now, "J waiting for it. "And not only so, 
but ourselves also," — we Christians, the most highly 
favored part of that creation, "which have already the 



* Verse 18. 



f Verse 19. 



% Verse 22. 



APPENDIX. 173 

first fruits of the Spirit," — the Gospel blessings con- 
ferred through that Holy Agent, as an earnest of the 
greater harvest which shall succeed hereafter, " even 
we ourselves, groan within ourselves, waiting for the 
adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body."* 

How animated and glowing is this description of the 
eagerness with which this future glory was looked for 
and desired ! There are, indeed, different opinions on 
the meaning of the word here translated " creature " and 
" creation," (xr^cc,) which, in the original, is the same 
in both verses. Some commentators^ suppose that it 
is to be understood in its most extensive meaning, and 
comprehends the irrational and inanimate as well as the 
rational parts of our world; the whole of which is, by a 
bold but usual figure, personified ; and as the whole had 
suffered in consequence of the fall of man, the whole is 
also represented as longing for the event which would ef- 
fect a glorious deliverance. And such is said to be the 
natural import of the expression, when connected, as it is, 
in the last of the verses, with the words " the whole. " One 
objection! made to this interpretation does not appear 
to have much weight. It is, that the Apostle would 
not, in an argumentative Epistle like that to the Romans, 

* Verse 23. 

f Koppe, Kosenmuller, Michaelis, 4Kop., 393, also Doddridge. 
See Theodoret III., 434, on Eph. i. 10. 
J Ammon in Koppe, vol. iv. . 393 



174 



APPENDIX. 



void of poetic ornament, introduce so bold a figure. 
But to this it may be replied, that though the Epistle be 
argumentative, yet when, in the course of his argument, 
the Apostle finds it necessary or useful to describe the 
exalted blessings designed to be disclosed and bestowed 
by the Gospel, the subject thus introduced is one 
more apt than any other to warm his breast, to elevate 
his thoughts, and to prompt to the use of bold and 
glowing figurative language suited to the ardor and 
elevation of his own mind. 

And such is the subject introduced in the verses under 
consideration. Nevertheless, as the word cannot admit 
so extended a meaning as that just mentioned, in all the 
verses in which occurs, but must in several of them be 
limited to the rational part of our creation ; it appears 
reasonable to adopt an uniform interpretation, and to 
give it that limited meaning throughout the whole pas- 
sage. And this is agreeable to the opinion of another 
class of eminent commentators, and no doubt accords 
with a similar use of the term in other parts of the New 
Testament.* 

Whichever interpretation, however, is preferred, the 
beauty or force of the passage will not be materially 
affected ; nor will the general purport of the Apostle's 
reasoning be at all altered. For, in either, he still sets 



* See Macknight in loc. Also Whitby. 



APPENDIX. 



175 



forth the general, earnest desire and longing for that 
future life and immortality, which was at length brought 
into full light by the Gospel. 

On the other subject, — the reasonableness of the expec- 
tation entertained of the glorious deliverance so ardently 
longed for, — the Apostle remarks, that "the creature 
was made subject to vanity," — that is, to the corruption, 
wants, and miseries of our present condition, — "not 
willingly, but by reason of Him," — that* is God,f — 
who hath subjected the same, with the hope, "neverthe- 
less, that it should be delivered from this bondage of 
corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of 
God."J 

(II.) Such is the first Gospel blessing here mentioned 
by the Apostle for the consolation and support of the 
Christians under their sufferings. But this blessing 
could not at present be enjoyed; it was only an object 
of hope; and was to be waited for with patience. § 

* " did tgv unoTdgavTaj may perhaps refer to Adam as the 
occasion of the subjection, which took place on his account, (as did 
with the accusative suggests,) but still this will represent Adam 
as the final cause, or reason of it, not the efficient. God only could 
subject the creature thus; especially He only could subject it, in 
hope of a deliverance, — both subjection and deliverance were then 
coeval parts of the Divine plan or ordinance, and so here repre- 
sented by the Apostle. 

f Macknight, Koppe, Rosenmuller, Turner, acc. Whitby, 
contra. 

% Verses 20, 21. \ Verses 24, 25. 



176 



APPENDIX. 



And as it might be feared that, in many instances, the 
future, distant blessing would not possess sufficient 
power over the heart to oppose the influence of present 
strong temptation to apostacy by some afflictions, the 
Apostle enumerates others promised by the Gospel, and 
enjoyed even now in this life. " Likewise the Spirit 
also," says he, "helpeth our infirmities."* The weak- 
ness of human nature may dispose you to yield to the 
pressure of calamity, and to renounce your religion to 
escape it. But you will not be left to rely only on your 
own powers. The Holy Spirit, by His aiding influ- 
ences, will sustain and strengthen you. 

The existence of such weakness is not disguised by 
the Apostle, nor the need we have of Heavenly assist- 
ance. Indeed, he sets forth that need in strong terms, 
by selecting a particular, striking proof of it; — that the 
aid of the Spirit is requisite even for the direction of 
our ordinary devotions to God. "For we know not 
what we should pray for as we ought." But herein the 
Spirit of God will, by His presence with us, and His 
holy and enlivening influence, guide us in our petitions, 
sanctify and animate our prayers, and render them ac- 
ceptable, so that we may be assured that they will be 
favorably heard, f 

(III.) Another blessing at present enjoyed, to which 



* Verse 26. 



f Verses 26, 27. 



APPENDIX. 



177 



the Apostle next directs the attention of the Roman 
Christians, is the constant protection of the Divine 
Providence. They might not, indeed, be immediately 
or at all delivered from their sufferings, in answer to 
their prayers; for such deliverance might not be for 
their real benefit. Yet notwithstanding they could re- 
pose confidence in the Providential goodness and power 
of the Deity, who would "make all things " — even af- 
flictions themselves — "work together for good to them 
that love God."* 

(IV.) But the important blessings already noticed, 
which were procured by the Gospel, could not be inter- 
esting and efficacious to those to whom St. Paul was 
writing, unless they were assured that those blessings 
were Divinely intended for, and could be obtained by 
themselves. Now the Roman Christians consisted 
partly of Jews, and partly of Gentiles; the latter of 
whom had not been engaged to pay obedience to the 
law of Moses. And it is well known, from the Sacred 
history itself, as well as from other sources, that it was 
then a subject of warm and zealous disputation whether 
obedience to that law was not essential to entitle them 
to the blessings promised by the Gospel. It was im- 
portant to remove all uneasiness on this point from the 
minds of the Gentile Christians at Rome; for otherwise 



* Verse 28. 
16 



178 



APPENDIX. 



the design of the Apostle to support them against the 
fear, or the endurance of sufferings, by the view of the 
promised blessings, would be defeated; inasmuch as 
they might doubt whether they were themselves author- 
ized to expect the enjoyment of those blessings, unless 
they became proselytes to Judaism as well as to the 
Gospel. 

The Apostle therefore remarks on that subject in the 
29th and 36th verses. I shall not here enter upon an 
examination of the meaning of the several clauses of 
those verses, as time would not permit, and my present 
purpose does not demand it. Suffice it to observe gen- 
erally, that the Apostle designs to impress upon their 
minds the certainty of the title of all who love God, 
whether Jew or Gentile, to the blessings of the New 
Dispensation; and for that purpose he concisely and 
forcibly enumerates the proofs of the Divine intention 
formed and declared before the promulgation of the 
Gospel, to confer those blessings on both, upon equal 
terms, without subjection to the Mosaic law; — an in- 
tention which he had already proved and explained at 
large in the preceding parts of his Epistle. 

Having thus maintained their title to look for such 
blessings for themselves, according to the purpose of 
God, the Apostle proceeds to show how confident 
should be their expectation of enjoying them, in defi- 
ance of opposition of any kind from any other quarters. 



APPENDIX. 179 

For, says he, "What shall we say then to those things? 
If God be for us, who can be against us ?"* 

To strengthen their confidence, he directs their view 
to what God had already done for them. God had al- 
ready given them a most inestimable pledge, in the gift 
of His own Son ; — by which they should be assured that 
all other blessings would follow, agreeably to His 
promise, — "He that spared not His own Son, but de- 
livered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him, 
also freely give us all things, "f And he triumphantly 
asks, " Who should accuse those whom God had justi- 
fied? Or who should condemn those for whom Christ 
had died; yea, rather for whom He had risen again; 
and being seated at the right hand of God, made inter- 
cession?"! God and Christ alone possessed the power 
of judging; and from them all who love God will meet 
with pardon and acceptance, and are safe from condem- 
nation. 

Such appears to be the course of remark which leads 
the Apostle to the animated address to the Roman 
Christians contained in our text. 

Before giving the explanation of it which is deemed 
correct, it will be proper to ascertain particularly the 
meaning of the words with which it commences : "Who 
shall separate us from the love of Christ?" 



* Verse 31. 



f Verse 32. 



% Verses 33, 34. 



180 



APPENDIX. 



What is the meaning of the love of Christ? 

And what is that of the separation referred to ? 

The "love of Christ" may mean either the love of the 
Christian for Christ, or His love for them. 

Some commentators understand the expression in the 
former sense, — of their love for Him, — and not without 
reasons of considerable weight. For the Apostle had 
been speaking of the privileges of those who loved God, 
and would be naturally led to remark on the loss of 
those privileges, if they ceased to love Him ; and also 
their being exposed by their adherence to Him to the 
trials and perils mentioned, had an obvious tendency 
to impair or destroy their attachment to Him, but did 
not seem clearly to be calculated to affect His love for 
them. On that interpretation of the language the pur- 
port of the question would be, "Who, or what shall 
destroy our love for Christ and His religion, or induce 
us to abandon them ?" 

Yet it must be acknowledged that the expression of 
separating a man from his own love for another, ap- 
pears harsh and unusual. And it may therefore be 
most proper to understand the love of Christ to be His 
love for His people; proofs of which are stated in the 
verses immediately preceding this. 

But, when we consider what the being separated 
from His love must mean, we shall be led to another 
interpretation of the clause, very similar in effect to 
that already given to it. 



APPENDIX. 



181 



The being separated from His love, then, it is be- 
lieved, does not allude to any supposed danger that the 
Redeemer would, under any circumstances, withdraw 
His love from His people, those who really were and 
continued to be such, but to the hazard to which they 
were exposed, of being constrained by their dangers and 
sufferings to renounce His service, and thereby lose His 
love, in consequence of being no longer the proper ob- 
jects of it. I state three reasons in support of this 
position. 

1. It best suits the general design of the Apostle 
in the whole passage. From the introduction of the 
subject of their sufferings in the nth verse, unto the 
verse now under examination, he seeks to guard them 
against being induced thereby to renounce the religion, 
by the profession of which those sufferings were brought 
upon them. The apprehended influence of such suffer- 
ings upon themselves, and not upon the love of Christ 
for His people was, then, what the Apostle kept in 
view. 

2. Nothing mentioned in this verse could have the 
most remote tendency to destroy or diminish Christ's 
love for them, in any other manner than by inducing 
them to desert Him and His religion, and thereby for- 
feit His love. Their endurance of the various afflictions 
and perils mentioned, in consequence of being His dis- 
ciples, so far from exposing them to any risk of being 

16* 



182 



APPENDIX. 



deprived of His love, would on the contrary, if they, 
notwithstanding, continued steadfast in the faith, render 
them more worthy objects of His favor. 

3. The same expression of " being separated from 
His love" does not occur in any other passage. But 
the meaning of it may be ascertained from the ex- 
planation given of some expressions of an opposite 
sense. In the Gospel of St. John, Chap. xv. 9, 10, our 
Lord said to His Disciples, "As the Father hath loved 
me, so have J loved you; continue ye in my love. If 
ye keep my commandments ye shall abide in my 
love." 

•Now if they continued and abode in His love for 
them by keeping His commandments, it is obvious that 
they would be separated from it by violating those com- 
mandments. So in Jude, v. 20, 21, that Apostle says, 
"But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most 
holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost, keep yourselves 
in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord 
Jesus Christ unto eternal life." 

They were to keep in the love of God by building 
themselves in their faith, and praying in the Holy Ghost. 
By the opposite course they would be separated from 
His love. On these principles I consider the meaning 
of the first clause of the 34th verse to be, "who, or 
what shall induce or impel us to depart from Christ and 
His religion, and thereby forfeit His love?" 



APPENDIX. 



183 



To proceed, then, with the explanation of the passage 
in our text. 

The Apostle had, as was before remarked, introduced, 
in the 11 th verse, the subject of the sufferings of Chris- 
tians cautiously, in order to avoid shocking the feelings 
of those to whom he wrote. He now returns to the 
subject then introduced. But having in the intervening 
verses impressively represented to them those exalted 
Gospel privileges and blessings, from which they would 
derive hope, consolation, assistance, and support, he no 
longer deems it necessary to observe the same caution. 

And confident of the powerful influence of the mo- 
tives thus held out to them by the Gospel for adhering 
to their holy faith, he sets forth their dangers and suffer- 
ings in full force; and in the face of all these, animates 
them to steadfast fidelity to their Saviour. For to this 
effect he proceeds in language in which he unites himself 
with the Roman Christians. " Blessed then as we 
Christians are, and supplied with such powerful motives 
to faithfulness, who, or what shall induce us to forsake 
Christ, and thereby be separated from His love ? Shall 
tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or 
nakedness, or peril, or sword?" Shall any sufferings 
which we endure, though they be so severe that we may 
say with the servants of God in former ages, "For Thy 
sake are we killed all the day long ; we are accounted 
as sheep for the slaughter ?" To this arousing ques- 



184 



APPENDIX. 



tion he makes for them himself the encouraging reply, 
expressive of his firm confidence in their steadfastness, 
and that, through the grace of Christ, who had loved 
them, they would triumphantly rise superior to all their 
difficulties and trials. " Nay, in all these things we are 
more than conquerors through Him that loved us." 
" For, I am persuaded that neither" the fear of " death," 
"nor" the love of "life," "nor" the enmity and opposi- 
tion of evil "angels," nor of "principalities, nor of 
powers, nor things present, nor things to come ;" nor the 
"height" of prosperity, nor the "depth" of affliction, 
"nor any other creature" shall be able to drive us to a 
course which will " separate us from the love of God, 
which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." 

Some inferences from this view of the whole passage 
were to conclude this discourse. 

(I.) In the first place, I remark, that in our text and 
the two following verses, the Apostle does not seem to 
intend laying down any doctrine in relation to the pos- 
sibility that a Christian may or may not fall from a 
state of grace in which he has been once truly placed. 

It is not doctrine, but exhortation and excitement to 
perseverance, that he addresses to the Roman Chris- 
tians. The principle which has been drawn and sup- 
posed to be proved from this passage especially, is in- 
consistent with many passages in the different Epistles 
of the same Apostle, in which he strongly expresses his 



APPENDIX, 



185 



alarm lest Christians should be induced to fall away 
from Christ, anxiously warns them of their danger, and 
endeavors to guard them against it. 

It is inconsistent with the design- of the Apostle even 
in this very passage itself. From the first introduction 
of the subject of the sufferings to which Christians were 
exposed by their religion, he evidently labors under an 
apprehension lest they should be thereby so alarmed and 
intimidated as to renounce their faith, to protect them- 
selves from danger and distress. To prevent an effect 
so destructive to their eternal welfare, he forcibly and 
impressively sets before them the various blessings be- 
stowed by the Gospel, from which they would derive 
hope, comfort, strength, and animation adequate to sus- 
tain them under all their trials, but of which, likewise, 
they would be deprived by apostacy. 

]ST othing could be better adapted to confirm them in 
their steadfastness than the consideration of these power- 
ful motives to perseverance, the influence of which on 
their minds was rendered more lively, impressive, and 
animating, by the strong confidence in them expressed 
by the Apostle himself, that blessed as they thus were, 
they would not be induced by any suffering or tempta- 
tion, to follow a course which would deprive them of the 
love of their Redeemer. Viewed in this light, the pas- 
sage possesses the highest beauty, consistency, and force. 

But'in what language should it be described, were 



180 APPENDIX. 

the interpretation given by many to it correct; and 
which in effect appears to result in this, that the Apostle, 
after manifesting his apprehensions on account of their 
danger, and arming them against its effects by suggest- 
ing the most powerful motives furnished by Christianity, 
concludes his address on the subject by giving them in- 
structions, which would render the suggestion of motives 
to faithfulness needless, and wholly destroy their use and 
efficacy, as from their nature they can only operate on a 
being possessing a free will to be influenced by them ; 
which concluding instruction is, that the danger of 
which he spoke was indeed imaginary ; for that it was 
a doctrine of the religion which he was commissioned 
to teach that the Christian would be so supported by 
Divine power, that he could not fall away, so as to lose 
the favor of God, and his own final salvation. 

(II.) But though the Gospel does not teach the doc- 
trine that the Christian will certainly, through Divine 
power, persevere and be finally saved, yet it presents to 
him the most persuasive motives to perseverance, and 
offers him powerful and amply sufficient aids to enable 
him to continue 11 faithful unto death." And thus he is 
placed in the most favorable state in which a being 
designed for probation can be placed. 

Were he to be certainly maintained in perseverance 
by Divine power, there could be no probation. *Yet 
the life of the Christian is represented in the Scriptures 



APPENDIX. 



187 



to be a trial duriug its whole continuance. To adapt 
his condition to the accomplishment of such a design 
was essential; and it is so adapted with the most strik- 
ing skill. To be capable of probation, man must be 
endowed with freedom of will and action. He is not to 
be maintained in the way of salvation by a controlling 
Divine power, for then his perseverance could not be 
any ground of approbation, or worthy of reward. He 
is to be led by the influence of motives operating on his 
mind as a rational and moral being, but which he is en- 
abled to yield to or disregard at his own choice. 

Indeed, from the very nature of motives, they can 
operate only as before mentioned, on beings endowed 
with such freedom of choice. Accordingly, mark the 
strength of those motives to perseverance which the 
Apostle enumerates in the passage which we have con- 
sidered. They result from the exalted and never- 
ending glory which is promised as our reward; — from 
the ample means provided, in the aids of God's Holy 
Spirit and the protection of His Providence, to secure 
our attainment of it, if we do not perversely cast it 
from us; — from the confidence which we are entitled to 
cherish that God will certainly bestow those blessings, 
because He has promised them, and is all-powerful, and 
faithful to His promises ; and because He has already 
given such wonderful proofs of His love for us. What 
more powerful and persuasive motives could be offered ? 



188 



APPENDIX. 



But while sufficient is thus presented to excite us to 
the ardent pursuit of the blessings set before us, and to 
secure our success in it, activity is required from us. 
To the influence of those motives we must yield. The 
heavenly aid supplied to us, it is incumbent on us to 
employ. The power communicated is God's, but the 
responsibility for using or neglecting it is ours. And 
nothing is held out to us by God that at alL tends to 
diminish the inducement to prayer, watchfulness, and 
exertion on our part, or the continued necessity of our 
performing those duties. 

(III.) I remark, in the last place, that the consola- 
tion of the Christian is likewise as well secured as is 
consistent with a state of trial. His consolation must 
depend upon the grounds which he possesses for an as- 
sured hope of not being disappointed in the attainment 
of the great salvation proposed as the object of his de- 
sires and pursuits. As the foundation of such a hope 
he has the promise of the Divine protection, and as- 
surance of the aid of the Holy Spirit, which shall be 
sufficient for him. He has the faithfulness, the power, 
the love of God in which to repose his confidence. He 
is assured that this gracious Being will never leave nor 
forsake His people. 

He is supplied with a test by which he may satisfac- 
torily, ascertain whether he is himself among them, by 
examining whether he possesses those Christian graces 



APPENDIX, 



189 



to which, through the mercy of God, and for the merits 
of the Redeemer, the reward of eternal life is promised. 
And if on the result of this examination he discovers 
that the Christian character has by Divine grace been 
formed in his soul, he has ample reason for a "full 
assurance of hope" that he is an object of the Divine 
love ; — and consequently, the most solid foundation for 
consolation and joy. 

Without possessing that character, indeed he cannot, 
nor was it intended that he should enjoy those blessings. 
Is he disposed to require, as the needful support of his 
consolation, not only this evidence of his being now in 
favor with God, and the assurance that God will not for- 
sake him, and leave him destitute of sufficient aid for 
working out his salvation, but also the additional assur- 
ance that he will be certainly secured by Divine favor 
in future from falling from this state through any trials 
which may assail him ; because he thinks that without 
such an assurance, doubts concerning his final fate will 
often harass his mind ? 

Let him reflect that one great design of God in pro- 
mulgating and establishing the Gospel was to reform 
mankind, and to improve them continually in virtue; to 
qualify them for the enjoyments of heaven, and that 
their sense of security and comfort is not to be pro- 
moted by means unfriendly to the accomplishment of 
this design. 

IT 



190 



APPENDIX. 



Now the assurance which he seeks would present a 
great obstacle to that accomplishment, inasmuch as it 
would strongly tend to produce negligence and in- 
activity, to which men are, by nature, already too much 
inclined in spiritual concerns. The certainty of being 
finally secure would lead them to rest satisfied with their 
present attainments in virtue, and indispose them for 
the exertion requisite to advance them to a higher state 
of improvement, and even to maintain them in their 
present one. 

Such an assurance, therefore, it is believed the Scrip- 
tures do not promise, and God did not intend to give. 



APPENDIX. 191 



SERMON. 

ON THE MANNER OF RECEIVING AND IMPROVING 
RELIGIOUS INSTRUCTION. 

" Also, thou son of man, the children of thy people are still 
talking *of thee by the walls, and in the doors of the 
houses, and speak one to another, every one to his brother, 
saying, Come, I pray you, and hear what is the word that 
cometh forth from the Lord. And they come unto thee 
as the people cometh, and they sit before me as my peo- 
ple, and they hear thy words, but they will not do them; 
for with their mouths they shew much love, but their 
heart goeth after their covetousness. And, lo ! thou 
art unto them as a very lovely song of one that hath a 
pleasant voice, and can play well on an instrument ; for 
they hear thy words, but they do them not." — Ezeh'el, 
xxxiii. 30-32. 

The manner in which we should receive and improve 
the religious instruction communicated in the public 
worship of God, ought to be seriously considered. 

It is a mean of grace Divinely appointed, and pecu- 
liar to the Church of God. Out of that Church it was 
unknown. To receive it is an important blessing, de- 
signed to promote our spiritual improvement, and well 
adapted for that purpose. But it depends on the use 



* Marginal translation. See Seeker i., 189; and Lowth in loco. 



192 



APPENDIX. 



which we make of it, whether, instead of promoting the 
welfare of our souls, it may not increase our condemna- 
tion. 

Take heed, our Lord therefore said in His explana- 
tion of the parable of the Sower, "Take heed what— 
take heed how ye hear."* 

The faults of the Jews, described in our text, will 
give us much instruction on this interesting subject. 

The office of the Prophets in the Jewish Church was 
not confined to delivering the extraordinary messages 
of God, and predicting, by Divine inspiration, the events 
of future times. These were only parts of the duties 
performed by them. But they were also the ordinary 
preachers of righteousness to that people; teaching 
them, by Divine authority, the lessons of religious mo- 
rality, whereby the dispositions of their hearts might 
be corrected and improved, and their conduct regu- 
lated. 

For this purpose the people assembled and sat before 
them, in the usual posture of disciples coming to hear 
the instructions of their master or teacher. To this 
part of the Prophetic office our text appears especially 
to relate. 

The Prophet Ezekiel was called by God to perform 
that office for the Jews who had been carried away from 



St. Mark, iv. 24; St. Luke, viii. 18. 



APPENDIX. 



193 



their own country by Nebuchadnezzar, and remained in 
captivity at Babylon. 

It might have been expected that while suffering un- 
der the severe calamities brought upon them by God, as 
a punishment for their sins, and which had been foretold 
them by Jeremiah, they would have been excited to 
attend with suitable dispositions and motives to the 
Divine messages communicated to them by the Prophet, 
and to have followed his instructions. But they appear 
to have fallen even then into that error which was at 
every period very prevalent in their nation, and pro- 
duced fatal effects ; the error of confining their religion 
to external acts of worship. 

Our text contains a striking and lively representation 
given by the Almighty to His Prophet, of the manner in 
which they sought after, and received His instructions ; 
and censures them for their neglect of those duties 
which were most essential to render their services ac- 
ceptable to God. 

And, my Brethren, human nature is the same now as 
it was in that age. 

Many are still prone to the same error into which the 
Jews fell. The representation contained in our text 
will apply to a great part of a Christian congregation, 
as accurately as it did to a Jewish assembly. And 
when we review its different parts, we shall perceive 

1?* 



194 



APPENDIX. 



that the religion of too many among ourselves is con- 
fined to those particulars which they likewise per- 
formed, and in other respects is as defective as theirs 
was. 

To receive that instruction which the passage is well 
calculated to give, let us consider, 
(I.) What they did ; — and, 
(II.) What they are censured for omitting. 
(I.) As to what they did. 

For anything that they did, they do not seem to have 
been reproved. It is not declared to be wrong. They 
are reproved for not having done other things which 
were essential They did not do all that was required, 
or did not do it in a proper manner. Their service fell 
short of what was due. 

"Son of man," the text begins, "the children of thy 
people still are talking of thee by the walls, and in the 
doors of the houses." 

The translation in the text of our common Bibles is 
"still are talking against thee." But in reading the 
verse I have used the translation in the margin of our 
larger Bibles; which is of equal authority with the 
other, and is generally considered in this instance as 
most correct. And it is indeed more agreeable to the 
tenor of the whole passage. For as the Jews were evi- 
dently pleased with hearing the Prophet, as they incited 
each other to go and receive his instructions, as they 



APPENDIX. 



195 



were eager in attendance upon him, it is probable that 
their remarks to each other in their conversations were 
not unfavorable to him. 

The fact seems to have been that they were struck 
and pleased with the vehement and energetic eloquence 
by which the Prophet appears from his writings to have 
been distinguished ; and perhaps the extraordinary and 
important messages which he often communicated from 
God interested them, and excited their curiosity. He 
was therefore constantly the subject of their conversa- 
tion "by the walls;" that is, in their places of public 
resort; the gates of their cities being the places at 
which the greater part of their business was anciently 
transacted; and also "in the doors of the houses" or 
in their private intercourse. 

The interest thus felt in the Prophet, and the admira- 
tion expressed of his eloquence and instructions, might 
easily be mistaken for an attachment to the religion 
itself, whose doctrines and precepts he was commis- 
sioned to teach, and as an evidence of the influence 
which that religion had over them. f 

Much of the same disposition, we well know, is found 
among Christians. How much greater attention is too 
often paid to the eloquence, the style, the delivery of 
the teachers, than to the all-important truths which are 
the subjects of their discourses ! With what zeal and 
earnestness are the merits or defects of those teachers 



196 



APPENDIX. 



often canvassed/ while little regard is paid to the duty of 
reflecting upon and applying to ourselves the instruc- 
tions which they have delivered ! 

How strong a partiality is frequently felt, and warmly 
expressed for particular teachers, by those who give 
little other evidence of attachment to religion ! 

It is not designed to condemn those feelings of pref- 
erence, or the free and candid examination of the merits 
or faults of Christian Ministers, as being wrong in 
themselves. But let them not interfere with real duties. 
Let them not be mistaken for evidence of attachment to 
religion, or of an experimental acquaintance with it 
They are met with often where religion has obtained no 
influence over the heart. 

Indeed, my Brethren, the more completely your at- 
tention is withdrawn from your preacher himself, and 
fixed upon the message which he is delivering to you 
from the word of God, the more fully your subsequent 
reflections are employed to impress upon your hearts 
the edifying instructions received from him, so that 
your dispositions may be thereby improved and your 
conduct directed, instead of confining your thoughts to 
the merits or defects of the manner in which those in- 
structions have been addressed to you, — the greater, 
you may believe, is your advancement in religion, and 
the greater additional improvement you may expect 
from uniting in religious worship. 



APPENDIX, 



197 



When you come to this sacred place, your business is 
not with us, but with your God, When you depart 
from it, your minds should be employed, not upon us, 
but upon- His commands, or the other parts of His re- 
vealed will which have been declared to you. 

We are but humble instruments commissioned by Him 
to lead your devotions, and to deliver to you the joyful 
message of the Gospel ; offering to you the forgiveness 
of your sins, reconciliation to God, and eternal life, 
through the merits of the Redeemer: — declaring to 
you the terms of repentance, faith, and obedience an- 
nexed to that offer, and required to be performed on 
your part : and urging you, by the terrors and the mer- 
cies of God, and a regard for your own everlasting wel- 
fare, to secure the offered blessings, by complying with 
the reasonable terms proposed. 

To God your devotions must be addressed ; — by God 
the noble offers just mentioned are made. "We then," 
to use the language of St. Paul, "are ambassadors for 
Christ, as though God did beseech you by us," and "we 
pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God."* 
Let your view then be carried, as it ought to be, beyond 
the ambassador, and fixed on the august Sovereign by 
whom he has been deputed, and on the gracious message 
borne by him. 



* 2 Cor. v. 20. 



198 



APPENDIX. 



The Prophet is next informed by God that the chil- 
dren of His people, the captive Jews, " speak one to 
another, every man to his brother, saying, Come, I pray 
you, and hear what is the word that cometh forth from 
the Lord." 

Thus they appear to have been earnest in exciting each 
other to assemble together before the Prophet to hear 
the word of God. A part of their conduct which was 
laudable, and worthy of the imitation of every Christian ; 
each of whom should zealously, though with prudence, 
use the influence which he may possess over others, and 
is especially bound so to do with respect to those who 
are nearly connected with him, or under his authority, 
for the purpose of leading them to pay that worship 
which is due to the Lord of Heaven and Earth ; and to 
receive from it the instruction in their duty, and grace 
to perform, which are so important to the general wel- 
fare of society, as well as to their own temporal and 
eternal happiness. 

St. Paul, therefore, inculcates upon all Christians the 
duty of thus inciting each other to every good work. 
"Let us consider one another," says he, "to provoke 
one another unto love, and to good works. Not for- 
saking the assembling of ourselves together, as the 
manner of some is; but exhorting one another; and so 
much the more, as ye see the day approaching."* 



* Heb. x. 24, 25, 



APPENDIX. 



199 



Thus incited by each other, the captive Jews came to- 
gether to hear the instructions of their Prophet. They 
sat before him as disciples before their master, and 
listened with attention to the word of God which he 
declared to them. In this their conduct was conform- 
able to the Divine commands. By thus assembling to- 
gether for religious exercises, they expressed their hom- 
age and declared their subjection to God; and received 
information of His will, to which they were expected to 
pay obedience. In like manner, Christians are to as- 
semble together to pay their worship, their adoration 
and praise to the Deity ; to present to Him their peti- 
tions ; to hear His Holy word read and explained. 

And in thus assembling for these purposes, they per- 
form a duty acceptable to God. But let it be always 
remembered that though this external worship of God 
is itself an important duty, the performance of which He 
strictly enjoins, yet it is required principally as a means 
to a higher and nobler end : to render our hearts holy 
and devoted to the love of Him, and to lead us to con- 
form our lives to His commands. 

Further: the Jews not only assembled together to 
hear the Prophet's instructions, but they appear to have 
taken a lively interest in this religious exercise. They 
attended to him with pleasure, and even with a high 
degree of delight They expressed their gratification, 
"for with their mouth they showed much love;" they 



200 



APPENDIX. 



were enraptured with the music of his voice, and his 
energetic and commanding eloquence; "he was unto 
them as a very lovely song of one that hath a pleasant 
voice, and can play well on an instrument." This de- 
light which was felt by the Jews in participating in the 
Divine ordinances is described also by the Prophet 
Isaiah ; in a passage, however, in which it must be ob- 
served, he was, notwithstanding, directed to reprove 
them with severity for their transgressions. "Cry 
aloud," said the Almighty to that Prophet; "spare not: 
lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and show my people 
their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins. 
Yet they seek me daily, and delight to know my ways, 
as a nation that did righteousness, and forsook not the 
ordinance of their God, they ask me of the ordinances 
of justice; they take delight in approaching to God."* 

To "seek the Lord," and to "approach to Him," mean 
to draw nigh to Him in the use of His ordinances, or 
other religious exercises ; in prayer, in reading or hear- 
ing His word, or in any other ways by which a knowl- 
edge of His will may be obtained, and His favor secured. 
In these they sought Him daily, and took delight in 
engaging in them. 

We have now seen, my Brethren, that the Jews were 
much interested in hearing from the Prophet the word 



* Isaiah, lviii. 1, 2, 



APPENDIX. 



201 



of God, so that they made him and his discourses the 
constant subject of their conversations in public and in 
private ; that they zealously incited each other to attend 
upon him, and receive his instructive lessons ; that they 
assembled before him in great numbers for that purpose ; 
and that they heard him with attention, and received 
great delight from this pious-employment. 

And are there not many, very many. Christians whose 
zeal and love of God carry them not a step beyond these 
particulars ? All of whose religion is confined to these 
few things, which were so earnestly practiced by the 
captive Jews spoken of by God in our text, and who 
are inclined to believe that they have made very consid- 
erable advances in a Christian life. 

There is no doubt that many comfort themselves with 
that belief. Yet in our text, God Himself declares that 
all this is insufficient and unsatisfactory to Him. The 
main scope of the passage is, not to commend the Jews 
for what they did, though all that they did was, at 
least, innocent, and the greater part of it in itself 
highly laudable ; but to reprove them for their defects, 
which rendered all their outward zeal, their expressions 
of love, and their delight in uniting in the external 
worship of God, unavailing to them, and unpleasing to 
Him. 

From the grounds of the censure passed upon them, 
18 



202 



APPENDIX. 



we may perceive what further is requisite to make our 
services acceptable. To consider these, was proposed as 
the second head of this Discourse. 

(II.) The Jews are censured in our text for three 
great deficiencies in their services. 

1. For their want of sincerity; "with their mouth 
they showed much love, but their heart went after their 
covetousness." 

2. For the improper motive which led them to attend 
on the Prophet; they went for entertainment, not edi- 
fication; the Prophet "was to them as a very lovely 
song of one that hath a pleasant voice and can play 
well on an instrument;" and 

3. For the transient impression made by his instruc- 
tions upon their hearts, so that they soon forgot and 
neglected to make the proper use of those instructions 
for improving their dispositions, and correcting their 
manners, "they heard his words, but would not do 
them." 

1. They were not sincere. Before remarking, 
however, upon this point, it may be properly observed 
that the words translated in our text " with the mouth 
they show much love," admit also another interpretation, 
that is, "with their mouth they make jests," and they 
are so translated in the margin of our Bibles. Hence, 
some interpreters have thought the meaning to be that 



APPENDIX. 



203 



the Jews ridiculed the discourses of the Prophet, and 
jested upon them. That is not the sense in which I 
view the passage in this Discourse ; but I mention it 
for the purpose of introducing a remark on a practice 
which it is to be feared is not very uncommon. 

If that be the true meaning of the words, the Jews 
were guilty of the great fault of making the most solemn 
and awful truths, truths, too, declared to them in the 
name, and by the authority, of God Himself, the subjects 
of merriment. Many, also, of those who attend the 
religious assemblies of the Christian Church are some- 
times disposed to divert themselves with the most serious 
and important exhortations; and find that disposition,- 
indeed, more strongly excited, the more solemnly and 
earnestly their duties are pressed upon them. 

This sometimes arises, we may charitably hope, merely 
from thoughtless giddiness ; but sometimes, too, from a 
bad and corrupt heart : and not unfrequently they indulge 
this propensity, because they feel their conscience roused 
and producing alarm, and they unwisely desire to ob- 
tain relief from these painful feelings by preventing 
serious reflection upon the exhortations which have 
caused them, and endeavoring to banish the remembrance 
of such exhortations from their minds. 

But this conduct is disrespectful to God, and is per- 
nicious in its consequences to themselves and others. 



204 



APPENDIX. 



Surely, the commands of God are entitled to a reverent 
attention from all. Surely, it is the greatest folly to 
refuse a serious regard to those important truths and 
duties on which our eternal happiness or misery de- 
pends. 

Taking the words, however, as they stand in the text, 
and not in the worse sense which those in the marginal 
translation convey, they contain a reproof of the Jews, 
because their love of God and of His ordinances existed 
only in profession, and did not affect their hearts. 
They were such as, according to the description given 
by the Prophet Isaiah, "draw near to God with their 
mouth, and honored Him with their lips, while their 
hearts were far from Him;"* and, instead of being de- 
voted to Him, were " going after their covetousness," 
engrossed with worldly devices of different kinds. They 
wished to combine, what, however, it is not practicable 
to combine, the love and the eager pursuit of the per- 
ishable vanities of the world with the service of God : 
paying to Him no other homage than such as did not 
interfere with their procuring and enjoying them. 

How inconsistent this is with a true and acceptable 
devotion to God, the weakest understanding may readily 
perceive. That devotion is rendered to a Being who 
sees into the inmost recesses of our souls, and approves 



* Isaiah, xxix. 13. 



APPENDIX. 



205 



or rejects our homage according as He finds our affec- 
tions engaged in it, or separated from it. "I, the Lord," 
says he, "search the heart, I try the reins, even to give 
every man according to his ways, and according to the 
fruit of his doings."* It is the heart of His professing 
servants which He principally regards ; and if that be 
wrong, their outward worship is but a vain oblation, 
which can never ascend up acceptably before Him. He 
is a Spirit, and must be worshipped in spirit and in 
truth. This admirable and interesting truth is readily 
acknowledged by our understandings ; happy will it be 
for us, if it is suitably impressed upon our hearts ! 

2. The second defect of the Jews, in attending to 
the religious lessons of the Prophet, was in the motive 
by which they were actuated. They went for enter- 
tainment, not for edification. The Prophet was to 
them, as we have heard, "as a very lovely song." 

Now, though it is very allowable to desire and seek 
for gratification while at the same time we receive in- 
struction, that ought not to be the principal object in 
view. It is not for entertainment that we should come 
to the House of God : His public worship, and the re- 
ligious instruction attending it, could never have been 
instituted with so low a design. 



* Jer. xvii. 10. 
18* 



20G 



APPENDIX. 



The main purposes for which we assemble here, and 
upon which our minds should be intently fixed, are to 
pay our homage to our great Creator and Redeemer, 
and receive His grace and blessing; to be informed or 
reminded of our natural state of alienation from God; 
of our natural sinfulness and corruption; of our actual 
transgressions ; of the awful consequences to which we 
were thereby exposed from the righteous sentence of a 
justly offended God ; of our reconciliation to Him, and 
redemption from the threatened punishment by the all- 
sufficient Sacrifice and prevailing Intercession of the 
Blessed Saviour; of the means whereby we may secure 
these blessings to ourselves; of our duties; of the 
methods of obtaining the Divine grace necessary to in- 
cline and enable us to perform them ; of what we have 
to hope or fear with respect to our eternal state in 
another world. 

With such deeply interesting and awfully important 
subjects before us, and demanding our attention, can we 
receive the approbation of our own judgments and con- 
sciences, when we permit our minds to be withdrawn 
from the serious consideration of them, and to be intent 
on obtaining — and, perhaps, dissatisfied at not obtain- 
ing — the very inferior, the comparatively trifling enjoy- 
ment of having our ears gratified, our fancy pleased, 
our understandings exercised, and agreeable emotions 



APPENDIX. 



207 



excited, by ingenious and convincing reasoning, by 
an impressive or splendid eloquence, by a graceful de- 
livery ? 

A great regard for these is too apt to draw us from 
the important business for which we are assembled. 
And religion has not yet produced its proper influence 
upon our hearts, unless we feel more interested in the 
great truths which it presents to us, than in the pleasing 
manner in which they may be explained or enforced. 

There is, indeed, a delight arising from sincere devo- 
tion, and from the consideration of the great truths of 
Christianity, which a real Christian may properly desire, 
and will generally feel. 

It has been graciously ordered by God that the per- 
formance of our duties, of our religious duties among 
the rest, should be productive of pleasure; of pleasure, 
too, of the purest and most exalted kind. But this de- 
light cannot exist unless the affections of the heart are 
engaged, for the occasion at least, in the duty per- 
formed ; and also is very different from the entertain- 
ment of which we have been speaking, and which is so 
much sought after. 

We must add, likewise, that even this delight should 
not be mistaken for religion, or regarded as a conclusive 
proof of Christian character. It may be, and often is, 
excited in breasts where real religion has not found an 



208 



APPENDIX. 



abode. The view of a numerous assembly solemnly 
engaged in offering, with one accord, their praises, their 
prayers, and" their thanksgivings to the Almighty Maker 
and Governor of the universe, may kindle a glow of 
animated devotion in one before unacquainted with the 
delightful feeling ; but, alas ! it may as speedily be ex- 
tinguished, without leaving, in its effects, the least ves- 
tige of its existence. 

In like manner may delight be excited by the contem- 
plation of those great truths which religion discloses, 
while they, notwithstanding, do not obtain any durable 
influence over our hearts. What, indeed, can be imag- 
ined more calculated to raise in our minds the most 
pleasing and delightful emotions than those discoveries 
which religion has made to us, of an Almighty Being, 
self-existing and eternal, of unbounded wisdom, good- 
ness, and power; filling all space with His presence, and 
marking everything that occurs in His wide, extended 
universe ; of the creation of the world by this adorable 
Being, with the benevolent design of bestowing happi- 
ness upon the creatures whom He formed and placed in 
it; of His constantly supporting and preserving it by 
His power; of His ruling and governing it by His 
Providence, extending His watchful and paternal 
care over the most minute as well as the greatest and 
most important objects in it; of His graciously raising 



APPENDIX. 



^09 



mankind from the depth of misery into which they had 
fallen by their sins, and redeeming them by the death of 
His own beloved Son; of His sending down to them 
His Holy Spirit to renew and sanctify, to guide, to sup- 
port, and to comfort them ; of the beauties of the mo- 
rality contained in His Law and Gospel; of the eternal 
joys which He has prepared for them in Heaven to 
record their faith and obedience ! 

The heart must be insensible that does not experience 
pleasing emotions on the contemplation of these ani- 
mating truths. But if they produce only delight, the 
discovery of them will be of little moment to us. From 
each of them important duties result; and to perform 
these faithfully must be our chief aim ; the duties, I 
mean, of grateful love to God for His goodness and 
mercy; of trust in His Providential care; of resigna- 
tion to His will; of adorations of His perfections; of 
acknowledging our need of the Atonement made by His 
Son for our sins, and relying on that for the favor of 
God and eternal life ; of seeking for and improving the 
influences of His grace; and aspiring after, and earn- 
estly striving to obtain the eternal happiness which He 
has set before us ; and of cultivating, for that purpose, 
those graces, and practising those virtues which He has 
enjoined. 

3. These remarks lead us to the third defect for which 



210 



APPENDIX. 



the Jews are reproved, that the instructions of the Pro- 
phet made but a transient impression, and were soon 
forgotten, or disobeyed, and unproductive of the de- 
signed improvement. " They heard his words but they 
would not do them." 

Hearing, indeed, as they did, without sincerity of 
heart, without the desire of knowing the will of God 
that they might obey it; seeking, as they did, amuse- 
ment and the gratification of curiosity instead of edifi- 
cation ; it was not to be expected that the discourses of 
the Prophet would make any durable impression on their 
hearts. The effect of them passed away speedily, like 
the memory of a very lovely song, to which they are 
compared ; nothing was thought of but the pleasure 
received from hearing them. 

But, can any reasonable man believe that no further 
use is to be made of religious instruction ? Is it of 
much advantage to be informed of our duty, unless we 
likewise practice it ? On the contrary, we are instructed 
that it will increase our condemnation. "The servant 
who knew His Lord's will and did it not, shall be beaten 
with many stripes, but he that knew not his Lord's will, 
shall be beaten with few stripes." 

Our duty is to improve by the instruction received by 
hearing the word of God ; to attend to it ; to reflect 
upon it ; to apply it to ourselves, that we may be made 



APPENDIX. 



211 



sensible of our faults and correct them ; that we may dis- 
cover in what virtues we are deficient, and endeavor to 
acquire them. We must do as well as hear the will of 
God. 

This is the injunction frequently repeated in the 
Scriptures, and without complying with it, all our hear- 
ing will be in vain ; and we have no reason to expect 
the Divine blessing. That is promised to those only 
" who hear the word of God, and keep it." 

By the fruits produced, must the reality of our reli- 
gion be determined now ; and according to them will 
we be judged at the great day of account, and have 
our eternal destiny unalterably fixed. 

"Be ye therefore doers of the Word, and not hear- 
ers only, deceiving your ownselves. For if any be a 
hearer of the Word, and not a doer, he is like unto a 
man beholding his natural face in a glass. For he be- 
holdeth himself, and straightway forgetteth what manner 
of man he was. But whoso looketh into the perfect 
law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a 
forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall 
be blessed in his deed."* By observing this injunction, 
you will lay the most secure and solid foundation for 
your future happiness. Of this you are assured by our 



* James, i. 22-25, 



212 



APPENDIX. 



Lord Himself in the strongest and most impressive 
terms. 

" Whosoever heareth these sayings of Mine, and 
doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which 
built his house upon a rock ; and the rain descended, and 
the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that 
house ; and it fell not ; for it was founded on a rock. 
And every one that heareth these sayings of Mine, and 
doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, 
which built his house upon the sand ; and the rain de- 
scended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and 
beat upon that house ; and it fell ; and great was the 
fall of it."* 

* St. Matt. viii. 24-27. 



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